SADTU responds to DA's Maimane's SONA debate speech  

20 February 2018

The DA leader Mmusi Maimane’s  speech during the debate of the State of the Nation Address in Parliament has shown that he has no capacity to think logically or laterally.

He is a loud hailer repeating his master’s nursery rhymes. The DA bench, full of those who stole our land, programmed him to the extent that his party, the DA is beginning to sound like a broken record. Because he is brainwashed and wearing a black skin with a white mask he no longer hears the broken record he is playing because the masters behind him are just pressing the button.

It is therefore not surprising that Maimane thinks every African man must be given instructions because Maimane’s hero Hendrick Verwoerd said so. Whenever DA leaders open their mouths their speeches are incomplete unless they mention SADTU and make it the scapegoat for the failures of education in this country.

As SADTU we have said it many a times that we always avoid engaging in public spats with political parties even those who disagree with us as a sign of respect. However, the DA seems to be blind to this.  We won’t allow the DA to continue to use SADTU as their punching bag to vent their political frustrations.

World renowned scientist Albert Einstein described insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results;  the DA is on that trajectory.

Like a broken record, the DA has been relentless in advancing its propaganda mantra that the Ministerial Task Team Report found that SADTU was involved in the selling of posts and is controlling six  provincial departments of education; these provinces are corrupt and perfom dismally.  

It baffles us as to which report is Maimane referring to as  nowhere in the report does it indicate that SADTU took a decision or policy to sell posts or control any province and corrupt it.

What irks Maimane is that the MEC’s and the HOD’s of those Departments, including the Minister and his HOD, are all black. Maimane has shown now and again that his is anti-black. A true puppet of his masters, he is singing their tune that what is black does not perform.

As a man of the cloth, Maimane surely reads.  However,  his utterances show the opposite. Had he read and done more research, he would have learnt that whatever is happening in those provinces has nothing to do with SADTU but it all has to do with the prevailing socio-economic conditions.

However, even under these circumstances, these provinces have shown marked improvement in the 2017 Matric results.

The report mentioned seven SADTU members who were implicated in the scandal and could not found an ounce of evidence that they were doing so at the behest of SADTU. We cannot allow Maimane to continue to tarnish the Union and its 260 000 members on the basis of seven teachers.

We also refuse to be blamed for the PRILS report which showed that fewer learners in Grade 4 can read with understanding. We urge him to read the report beyond the headlines. It clearly states the courses and indeed, SADTU nor the Unionisation of teachers is certainly not one of them. One of the factors raised by the report is the non-existence of a culture of reading in many homes and the non-availability of books. Unfortunately for most South Africans, the culture of reading begins when children enter the classroom and does not exist in many homes.

We have no ambitions of capturing the state, President Ramaphosa nor the Department of Education. Let us tell you something about our President Ramaphosa. He is a man of integrity and substance. He is intelligent and has mastered the teachings of our liberation heroes and heroines who refused to dance to racists and thieves who stole our land. This President is a product of the struggle and his mind cannot be corrupted by you or your masters. Your masters don’t care about the education of the African child or a working class child; we do. What drives us is ensuring the provision of quality public education that will ensure that an African child reach their potential and grow.  That is why you will find our members in far flung areas where there are no resources.

We are unashamedly an affiliate COSATU which is  South Africa’s largest labour union federation. SADTU, an affiliate of COSATU a member of the Tripartite Alliance took the decision to support Ramaphosa as per the ANC tradition that the Deputy President becomes the President. SADTU wanted and still wants stability in country so that we grow our economy and eradicate the apartheid legacy of which Maimane is defending.

Maimane, your rants have become trite. We would advise you to focus your energies in salvaging your party in the Western Cape which is marred by factionalism and chronic corruption. Remember what happened to Joe Seremane , Lindiwe Mazibuko and now Patria de Lille. You won't be an exception. Your time is coming. Your racist party will get rid of you , when they are satisfied of getting enough black voters through you.

Teachers and workers of our country should know that the DA believes in Neo-Liberalism where workers are exploited, paid low wages, subjected to unbearable working conditions, worklong hours with no regard for health and safety. The DA hates trade unions and that has been the policy of your predecessors during the apartheid period so we are not surprised.

When Steinhoff destroyed our hard earned pensions Maimane was silent because his  masters didn’t give him instructions to bark.

Maimane's party, the DA , is a staunch supporter of the oppressive Apartheid state of Isreal. As part of their ideology of a free market the DA , the party of the white privilege bosses hates unions; it is opposed to the land expropriation  without compensation. The DA is opposed to the banning of labour brokers  where workers remain permanent casuals.

The DA opposes the National minimum wage that will assist by improving the salaries of more than 6 million workers. The DA supports the privatization of schools and health care centers , which will benefit a few - the white minority that owns 90% of the wealth of our country - at the expense of the poor black majority of our country.

The workers must remember this as we approach 2019. The party of this puppet championing union bashing.

Issued by Nomusa Cembi, Media Officer, SADTU, 20 February 2018