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The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) has noted with contempt attempts to revive the tired allegations that SADTU is controlling education departments. 

This allegation was first made in 2016 when SADTU was wrongly and falsely accused of being involved in the selling of Educator posts. Despite the many allegations made against SADTU, the Ministerial Task Team (MTT) appointed by the Minister of Basic Education could not produce any shred of evidence to support these allegations which SADTU always strenuously denied. Following the release of the MTT Report, the Minister presented the report to the law enforcement agencies which also could not find any evidence of SADTU’s involvement. 

The Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE), a liberal outfit totally opposed to unionism and transformation, in its quest to find relevance, has more than six years later returned to the public domain to rehash the same allegations which could not be proven including through a subsequent forensic investigation. 

In its new fight with the Minister of Basic Education and the Director General, the CDE has decided as a convenience to drag SADTU in this fight. In its media statement the CDE alleges that SADTU has a stranglehold on education departments, an allegation found to exist only in the imagination of the detractors of SADTU. In its convenient reading of the MTT Report, the CDE missed an important finding made by the MTT that: 

“Based on submissions to the Task Team and the data from interviews, there is no reason to believe that any Teachers' Union as an organisation is involved in the buying and selling of posts in education.”

The CDE also deliberately ignored the following finding by the MTT:

“As anticipated, many disgruntled individuals saw an opportunity to use the investigation to voice their grievances, not always on factual grounds. Of the approximately 120 matters that were brought to their attention, the MTT found, after initial investigation, that several of the allegations were unfounded, based on rumours, malice, or hearsay.”

In its media release the CDE amongst others make the uninformed, false allegation and accuse SADTU of having prevented the Department of Basic Education from implementing a performance management system. On the contrary, SADTU and social partners in the Education Labour Relations Council concluded Collective Agreement 2 of 2020 which is an amendment to the performance management system to address identified deficiencies in the system. What the CDE does not say is that it wants the parties to adopt the system it wants which has failed all over the world. 

It is abundantly clear that the allegations made by the CDE are malicious and have no justification whatsoever. Through her Attorneys, SADTU has demanded that the CDE provide evidence of all its allegations against SADTU or face legal action. The CDE has 14 days to provide the evidence it relies upon to make these vexatious allegations. 

Should the CDE not produce the evidence, SADTU will be left with no option but to fully assert its rights. 

Issued by SADTU Secretariat