Who’s in charge: Lesufi or SADTU?

27 September 2017

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is deeply concerned by disruptions in schooling districts where the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) is the dominant union. Instead of engaging constructively and putting learners first, SADTU has elected to collapse schooling by withdrawing its members from a number of schools in Johannesburg.

On an inspection of schools this morning, many schools in Soweto were non-operational, with learners lying in the sun and walking the streets. Their futures are being sacrificed at the altar of SADTU’s narrow politics.

In contrast, schools in affluent areas are pushing ahead with the teaching programme. While SADTU claims to care about the youth, in particular the poor black child, they continue to undermine their right to quality education. Despite this collapse in education, the ANC is nowhere to be found, meaning that they tacitly endorse the actions of SADTU.

SADTU has shown itself to have outsmarted MEC Panyaza Lesufi who also appears to lack the support of the ANC, in particular Premier David Makhura and MEC Paul Mashatile, both of whom rely on SADTU to get elected and fight their factional battles.

SADTU’s participation in today’s COSATU march only reinforces the idea that their only interests are ANC factional battles and politics, not teaching and learning.

SADTU stands as a barrier between the current poor state of education and quality education, which is delivered in areas were the DA has jurisdiction over education and SADTU’s influence is limited.

Anybody who undermines the right to education is an enemy of the youth and the project of building a better South Africa. The DA will always work towards ensuring that the right to education is upheld and protected.

Issued by Khume Ramulifho, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education, 27 September 2017