General Secretary

Comrade Mugwena Maluleke was first elected as the General Secretary of SADTU during the 2009 National General Council. He was re-elected during the 7th, 8th and 9th National Congresses. He has passionately and compassionately served the Union for more than 24 years in various positions - from branch to national levels. In July this year, Cde Maluleke was re-elected as Vice-President for the Africa Region of Education International (EI), a global federation of about 400 unions in more than 171 countries and territories, representing 32 million teachers and education employees. He is the Convener of COSATU Public Sector Unions Joint Mandate Committee (JMC). He has served with dedication and determination as a member of the steering committee of the Commonwealth Teachers' Group; is a council member of the Vaal University of Technology and the Human Resource Development Council of South Africa. He currently serves the public servants as an alternate trustee of the Government Employee Pension Fund (GEPF) board and non-executive director of the interim board of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).

Cde Maluleke insists that the challenges facing education in the country are systemic and the solution lies in the investment in Early Childhood Education and Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector where the recruitment of lecturers must be accompanied by professional development to achieve quality outcomes. Cde Maluleke firmly believes that education is a public good and should therefore not be privatized or commercialized. Cde Maluleke is committed to fight against union bashing and attacks on teachers. This can be done by investing time and effort in collective bargaining and improving teacher competencies by creating a balance between pedagogy and subject knowledge.

As the Union continues to transform the education system, he has committed himself to working tirelessly towards the changing of the funding model of the South African government if education is to address the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment. Cde Maluleke has vowed to fight for the infrastructure to address the dignity of every child in our schooling system. He believes that an education system must be inclusive and that the curriculum and learning materials be customized to facilitate the learning of every child. He believes that the current textbooks are used to exclude a sizable number of learners who have various learning challenges because such textbooks are generalized and standardized.

Cde Maluleke's main commitment is to see the Union grow both qualitatively and quantitatively. This growth can be achieved by implementing Congress Resolutions and focus on the strategic thrusts as captured in the Union's 2030 Vision. SADTU has a duty to children and their future.