COSATU President Address: SADTU National Congress
25 September 2024
The President of SADTU, cde Maphila
The General Secretary of SADTU cde Dr Maluleke
The collective leadership of our mighty SADTU,
Leadership of the Alliance, GS of COSATU, cde Solly and GS of SACP, Solly , domestic and Internationalist friends
Delegates and most importantly the membership of SADTU across our nation,
Thank you for inviting your Federation, to join you in this august occasion, which we are confident will mark another milestone in the history of this glorious union.
We know that SADTU will emerge from this gathering united, determined to defend the hard-won rights of teachers, and fearless in advancing the rights of our children to an education of excellence and a better life.
The theme of this Congress of “Mobilising Consciousness and Uniting Revolutionary Professionals in Strengthening Foundational Learning and Functional Skills, to Advance Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth in Pursuance of a Socialist Society” captures the essence of the transformational role of teachers and the path we must strive for at all times.
SADTU stands as a champion of progressive thought and a fighter for the change we need in the struggle for a just and equitable society. Teachers are not only workers but also builders of consciousness and advocates for social transformation.
SADTU and indeed COSATU’s commitment to foundation learning and skills development is at the heart of our just call for a sustainable, inclusive economy and a socialist non-racial, non-sexist future.
Our schools reflect the many painful socio-economic challenges that society and in particular the working-class encounter.
Learners feel the pain of an unemployed father, of the single parent household, rising levels of poverty and indebtedness, alcohol abuse, domestic violence, gangs and criminality in our communities and struggling public and municipal services.
The task of our schools, colleges and universities and our SETAs, is to invest in our children and workers, to uplift and empower them, to unlock their potential and open the doors of a better life for them, their families and their own children in the future.
SADTU has consistently and correctly defended our schools, demanded safe learning places, provide a place for children to be free and to grow, and to lay the foundation for their well-being….But we are not fair to our teachers nor our learners as a society.
How can a school succeed when parents can barely afford to feed their children? How can children focus on learning when living in absolute poverty and overcrowding? How can our children learn when the teacher learner ratio is rising rather than declining?
On many scores, we have made impressive strides as a nation under the leadership of our Alliance Partners in government, the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party, since 1994.
Millions are able to access free basic education with meals across our communities. Thousands have earned degrees at our universities with the support of NSFAS. But when we look at the numbers of learners who do not reach matric, who do not pass grade 12, who do not pursue tertiary education; then we must be alarmed.
Education is not a chore. It is a life-long journey, a fundamental investment in our children, their careers and earning potential, their ability to improve their own families’ lives, and to contribute to a growing economy and a prosperous society.
Many of the gains we have won as the Alliance and working class since 1994 are threatened and under severe strain as we seek to overcome the damage done to the state and the nation under the decade of state capture and corruption.
The ability of the state to provide the support society needs to uplift itself too, is struggling with a battered economy and dangerously high levels of unemployment.
Whilst we must condemn our failings and in particular those who have betrayed the trust of the people in pursuit of corruption and state capture; we must equally acknowledge and commend progress when it happens.
We have gone from 12 hours of loadshedding a day in the beginning of 2023, to nearly 6 months of no loadshedding. SARS has been cleansed of corruption and is tackling tax evasion to ensure the state has the funds needed to provide public services. Progress is being made to rebuild Transnet, Metro Rail and other key infrastructure.
Much more remains to be done to stabilise and fix local government, where increasing numbers of municipalities fail to pay workers on time. More must be done to ensure our law enforcement has the tools it needs to win the war against crime and corruption.
We must however reject the call by any politician that will send a single teacher into the unemployment queue. The calls by SADTU and COSATU to stop the possible retrenchment of a single contract teacher must be won. We dare not fail in this demand. We have requested an urgent meeting with the Minister for Finance. A solution must be found but it cannot be at the expense of the education of our learners.
Equally we must ensure that government puts in place the resources required to roll out Grade R across all schools as well as to ensure the necessary measures in place to provide a safer learning environment for our learners and teachers.
Similarly, we must defend the BELA Act that has now been assented to by the President. Any further amendments to the law must be to enhance the path of transformation and the inclusion of all learners. We cannot compromise on the right of all learners to an education, including in their mother tongue.
Whilst we support the progressive objectives of the BELA Act, the 7th Parliament should strengthen it further by requiring all learners to be in school up to grade 12 and if they seek to exit before matric it must be to a TVET College. We cannot continue to send young people into the labour market without the necessary skills and education needed to find decent work.
COSATU commends SADTU for the leadership role it has played in the Federation, the Alliance and society. The fruits of the progressive efforts of the SADTU of Fezeka Loliwe are the Two Pot Pension Reforms that commenced on 1 September enabling workers to access a limited portion of their savings without having to resign.
We have begun engagements with Treasury on the next round of pension fund reforms, including how can the tax burden on low income workers be reduced, allowing workers to access a larger amount of their existing savings, enabling pension funds to be used to support education and ensuring workers who lose their jobs, retain full access to all their savings.
The President, comrade Cyril Ramaphosa, the founding General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers and a founding father of the Federation of Elijah Barayi, recently signed into law the National Health Insurance Act providing a path for universal health care, the Companies Amendment Act requiring listed and state-owned companies to disclose their wage gap and the Public Procurement Act boosting locally produced goods and tackling state corruption.
We have made progress at Nedlac to roll back efforts to weaken our hard-won labour rights and to in fact strengthen the protections of workers, especially the vulnerable.
None amongst us wished to see our movement, the ANC, fall to 40% in the May 29 elections. But equally we cannot be surprised given our many challenges and worse the failures of some of our comrades, and in particular the painful struggles working class communities go through.
We are pleased that despite this strategic blow, the ANC continues to remain the leading political force in society and it leads government nationally and across 7 provinces. Whilst we had preferred an ANC minority government, it opted for a Government of National Unity, with all of its challenges and difficulties.
Our task is to ensure that, the ANC leads government, that government implements the ANC’s elections manifesto, that we fix the state and ensures it provides quality public and municipal services, that the economy grows and unemployment, poverty and inequality falls…and that those comrades who steal go to prison.
If we can do this, then come 2026 and 2029, the movement of Nelson Mandela and Ray Alexander, can once again enjoy the confidence of the working class and be returned with an outright majority.
This means that, us gathered here must play our role. We must work in our ANC and SACP Branches, participate in the by-elections taking place each month and lay the foundations for victory in 2026 and 2029.
We must not delude ourselves into believing that if the ANC is defeated, that workers will not pay the price.
It is not an accident that the General Secretary of SADTU, cde. Dr. Mugwena Maluleke, was elected President of Education International. This is a recognition of the internationalist nature of SADTU, the solidarity it has provided to teachers and workers across the world from Cuba to Palestine, it is a recognition of the solutions that SADTU provides to the
challenges facing teachers and learners.
These are difficult and turbulent times for the working class across the world. We need as COSATU to intensify our solidarity campaigns from SATUCC to the BRICS Trade Union Forum, from the ITUC to WFTU and the ILO, as well as to build the foundations for Africa’s industrialisation from AGOA to the African Continental Free Trade Area.
In all of these journeys, we need a well oiled SADTU. A SADTU that is united, that services and defends it members. A SADTU that is organised in every school, public and private, in every community. A SADTU that brings together all teachers.
A SADTU that ensures all teachers are agents of education and transformation, are ambassadors for excellence and defend the rights of learners. A SADTU that inspires the next generation of teachers and lays the foundation for that Better Life for All.
These require hard work, that we set recruitment targets and that we meet them. That we train our shop stewards and members on their rights from the BCEA to the LRA.
That our leaders are on the ground from Matatiele to Petrusville. That we raise the alarm when learners and teachers are threatened with violence in Hanover Park or New Brighton. That we compel the Departments to ensure all schools have decent sanitation from Musina to Ficksburg and no learner shall be taught under a tree.
Allow me to conclude here. Your tasks collectively are not easy. You must engage over the next few days on a clear programme to ensure the rights of teachers and learners are defended and improved, that learners enjoy an education of excellence, and that we collectively lay the foundation for a Better Life for all our children.
You must emerge united and determined as ever from this Congress. With unity, we can overcome all challenges. When divided, we fall.
Let us march forward together – united, determined and resolute in our mission to build a better South Africa.
We draw comfort, hope and inspiration knowing that SADTU has and will always remain the pillar for COSATU. A strong SADTU ensures a strong COSATU. We thank the outgoing leadership for the dedication and commitment.
We are indebted for all you have done. Equally we look forward to working with the incoming leadership collective and the membership of SADTU to continue to defend the rights of workers and improve working conditions and lives of the working class.
Education is our weapon; solidarity is our strength and the future we collectively seek is within our grasp.
Amandla! Education for liberation! Victory is certain! Thank you.