THE appointment of a new superintendent-general in the KwaZulu-Natal department of education has caused "problems" in the department.

The National Professional Teachers Organisation of SA (Naptosa) is accusing the acting superintendent-general of failing to run operations smoothly.

Naptosa has threatened legal action against Simon Mbokazi, who has been acting since Cassius Lubisi resigned last year.

Naptosa spokesperson Anthony Pierce said: "Phones go unanswered and the service centres are not in a position to respond to queries. Communication goes unanswered."

He said they were worried that teachers who did not take part in the strike last year will have their salary docked for seven days at the end of the month.

The other concern was that lecturers at FET colleges earned a full salary while reporting to colleges for purposes of registration only.

The department recently conducted a head count to root out unqualified and bogus members of staff.

Pierce said while they applauded the department for the initiative, the head count has resulted in employees being victimised.

He said there were employees who had submitted their documents and were included in the head count, but were not paid in December.

"They have been victims of the department's careless mistakes. More seriously was the fact that medical aid membership was suspended."

Pierce said although these concerns were reported and brought to the attention of Mbokazi, he did not do anything about them.

"In an attempt to address these problems, Naptosa has requested a meeting with the acting superintendent-general.

"He has simply responded by stating that he does not see the need for a meeting. He is being short-sighted, and may find himself having to respond to Naptosa in a court of law."