DA condemns SADTU for disrupting schools in Soweto

28 January 2019

Teaching and learning at schools in Kliptown and Eldorado Park were disrupted this morning by SADTU members. Learners were sent home as SADTU plans to protest the entire week against the alleged racism faced by black South African teachers in coloured communities in Gauteng.

While the national and provincial structures of SADTU have ruled the protests as illegal and have urged their teachers to return to work, the disruptions have continued unabated.

The Union has consistently been a barrier to quality education in the province.

Where SADTU has dominance, learning and teaching get disrupted. Johannesburg Central is the worst performing district in Gauteng and primarily because SADTU holds meetings during school hours and don’t teach during these periods.

Dedicated teachers are forced to go the extra mile to ensure that they provide basic quality education while SADTU affiliate teachers pull down the overall standard of education in many of our schools.

The department has previously failed to act against SADTU in Johannesburg Central. It is clear that political motivations are being prioritised ahead of the needs to our children.

The DA will write to Premier David Makhura to urgently act against SADTU in Johannesburg Central.

When the DA governs Gauteng, we will not allow any union to hold our schools, and our teachers to ransom. Our learners should be in classrooms receiving an education, not roaming the streets.

Issued by Khume Ramulifho, DA Team One Gauteng Spokesperson on Education, 28 January 2019