Drunk teachers cause havoc

2004-03-30 08:44

Christi Naude

Pietermaritzburg - Drunk and disorderly teachers who spent thousands on alcohol during a South African Democratic Teachers' Union protest march to the legislature in Pietermaritzburg on Monday, became so rowdy and abusive that even liquor stores tried to shut them out.

One liquor store manager, who did not want to be named, said he had served hundreds of teachers, many of them already under the influence. "We only have two tellers and some became very abusive. To protect my staff and the store, we closed the gate and told them we would only serve them through the gate," he said.

This arrangement added fuel to some unsober professional minds, who then threatened the manager to "watch his back". An employee at another liquor store said they had similar unpleasant experiences.

The teachers came from over 100 Sadtu branches in KwaZulu-Natal and were easily identified by their T-shirts and other union memorabilia. "I doubt it if some of them were able to complete the march, given their drunken state," a shop owner said.

Several educators were seen late on Monday afternoon buying another one for the road, after they had left streets in the city on the march route strewn with torn posters and plastic bottles.

"That is not how professional people should behave," a shocked passer-by remarked, adding "I hope one of them don't teach my child."

However, a Sadtu member expressed concern that some "bad apples" abused the march, which was intended to highlight the sorry state of thousands of teachers in the province.

Teacher/pupil ratio

A memorandum - addressed to national Education Minister Prof Kader Asmal - was received by former KZN education minister Prof Gabriel Ndabandaba on behalf of Asmal at the legislature.

Sadtu, who has 42 000 members in the province, took up the plight of more than 7 000 temporary and substitute teachers, whom the union alleged have not received salaries since the beginning of this year.

Another thorny issue is the teacher/pupil ratio in KZN schools. While education MEC Narend Singh proposed an improved post provisioning norm (PPN) of one teacher per 32 pupils, Sadtu wanted 30 pupils per teacher. Sadtu condemns the pupil headcount the department conducted in January and February, because they argue that pupils of only 600 of the about 6 000 schools were counted.

"Now the employer is accusing the principals of inflating pupil numbers, while they instructed principals to admit no less than 150 000 five, six- and seven-year-olds in the last three years, without creating new teacher posts." Sadtu president Dan Mabayakhulu said.

The union wants Asmal to intervene in what it describes as the "manner in which Singh and his department head Prof Charles Dlamini have undermined the regulations regarding staffing of schools."

- The Witness