By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
African National Congress (ANC) Deputy president Paul Mashatile delivered a keynote address at the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) Congress in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni.
Mashatile told delegates that the government must fix the working conditions and remuneration of teachers.
He said: “Teachers are doing a good job in our country. It must be up to us as the leadership to make sure that we deal with their conditions of employment. We have to fix it. The conditions of employment of teachers and dare I say, including better remuneration for teachers.”
He said the sector has undergone 30 years of concerted efforts to transform the education system.
He told the congress that President Cyril Ramaphosa has recently signed into law the Bela Bill.
Mashatile said the bill is aimed at consolidating gains in education, specifically as it relates to early child development, non-discriminatory access, diversity and inclusion, and improving school governance mechanisms.
“Now there’s been a lot of debates in the media about this bill and the fact that there are others who wanted it to be changed, and we agreed with the president and said, ‘President, go ahead, sign the bill’.
“Those who are still having issues, we will listen to them, but the work must continue,” he said.
He said they did it to avoid a situation where the bill is taken back to Parliament, and it takes another year in Parliament.
“Bazosithola phambili (we are moving forward),” said Mashatile.
Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi said , The Bela Act is very critical and central to the work of educators in our country, to the lives of South Africans, particularly the black child, and the transformation of the education system.
SACP General Secretary Solly Mapaila said, she supported Sadtu’s decision not to invite minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube to the congress as she had “no interest in the public, but the DA”.
“It’s okay that she’s not here; we don’t care about her,” Mapaila said.
He said Gwarube could not afford to ignore Sadtu as it is a major stakeholder in education and the biggest union in the sector.
Mapaila said they would be working with Sadtu to defend the implementation of the Bela Act on the ground.
The general secretary, who has been heavily critical of the Government of National Unity, said that, while the ANC spoke about “optimism” regarding the multi-party coalition government, there had already been “reversals” in its first 100 days.
Mashatile said the ANC and the alliance broadly suffered a strategic setback as it did badly in the 2024 national elections.
“This strategic setback resulted in us not being able to establish a government on our own and ending up in what we now know as the Government of National Unity.
“We agree that the GNU is not our ideal choice but our approach as the ANC together with our alliance was to find a way to ensure that we are not derailed from our main goal of transforming our society, including our education sector for the better,” he said.
He pointed out that, as a result, the ANC has to be strategic and ensure that the setback it suffered should not dislodge the party from the levers of state power necessary for driving transformation, including the working conditions and better pay for our teachers.
“We recognise we have reached the 100-day mark since the formation of the GNU. I am pleased to report the GNU is focused on its task of growing an inclusive economy, fighting poverty, reducing inequality and addressing the cost of living as well as building an ethical, developmental and capable state.”