Smash SADTU ‘protection racket’‚ says DA

The Democratic Alliance wants President Jacob Zuma to say what he plans to do to smash the SADTU “protection racket” so that the education of every child in the country can be improved.

Speaking in Parliament during the debate on the President’s state of the nation address‚ DA spokesman on basic education Gavin Davis charged that the teachers’ union and not the government was mostly in charge of education in the country.

He said Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga would soon table the so-called “Jobs-for-Cash” report which had taken nearly two years for the Task Team to complete‚ but which the DA had reason to believe would be worth the wait.

“The report will show how SADTU-aligned officials arrange teaching posts for SADTU members‚ in exchange for cash.

“It will show how SADTU has captured six of the nine provincial government departments.

“It will show that‚ in these provinces‚ SADTU runs a protection racket where underperforming teachers are protected because they are members of SADTU.

“It will show how SADTU uses militancy to exert pressure on its members to be unionists first and professionals second‚” Davis asserted.

He added that‚ as the Supreme Court of Appeal had stated last year‚ basic education was a primary driver of transformation in South Africa. It was also the biggest line item in the budget‚ with R203bn spent on basic education. Yet the president had nothing to say about it in his SONA speech.

“The matric results released last month showed a national decline from 75% to 70%.

“Every province‚ except for the Western Cape‚ performed worse than the previous year.

“And there were 22 schools across the country that recorded a pass rate of zero percent.

“Yet the President remained silent‚” Davis said.

“Madam Speaker: the President was silent on Thursday because he is not in charge of education.

“Minister Motshekga is not in charge of education.

“In most provinces‚ the MECs are not in charge of education.

“Because‚ in most parts of the country‚ the South African Democratic Teachers Union – SADTU – is in charge of education‚” Davis charged.