Motshekga must go, says Sadtu
2013-03-05 16:56
Johannesburg - Teacher union Sadtu has called for Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga to resign, saying it had lost confidence in her.
"We... make a passionate call to the minister to do the honourable thing and take the road less travelled by submitting her resignation," the SA Democratic Teachers' Union said in a statement.
The union accused Motshekga of having withdrawn an agreement that protected collective bargaining.
"On the 12th of February, Motshekga unilaterally and with immediate effect, withdrew Collective Agreement No.1 of 2011," Sadtu said.
"Ironically, this happened on the day of our picket to the basic education headquarters in defence of collective bargaining and the promotion of labour peace."
Education spokesperson Hope Mokgatlhe declined to comment on the contents on Sadtu's statement.
She said in a statement the minister was disappointed to hear from Sadtu via the media.
She quoted Motshekga as saying: "I'm disappointed about this trend of stakeholders choosing to communicate with the basic education ministry through media statements.
"We are always committed and available to meet and discuss any concerns raised by unions, as we regularly do."
Mokgatlhe said the minister met Sadtu often, and this matter should have been raised at one of those meetings.
The union said education director general Bobby Soobrayan should also go.
It threatened to limit communication with the department.
"We will not participate in any departmental programme at all levels, and we will not take any instruction from the ministry or department; ours will be to be in schools for seven hours, and no extra effort beyond that must be expected from us," they said.
Sadtu threatened to stop marking supplementary exams, year-end exams, and Annual National Assessment scripts.
"We will go further and lobby all the other public sector unions to withdraw from the three-year collective agreement that was intended to ensure labour peace, because the minister has no intention to sustain it."
- SAPA
