Business Day *Plum posts in Sadtu come up for grabs* /Sadtu is the second-largest member of Cosatu and arguably its most active/ *SAPA and Sue Blaine, Business Day, Johannesburg, 6 October 2010*TOP posts in SA's biggest teachers' union, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu), will be up for grabs when members gather in Boksburg to elect new leaders today .
Sadtu, with about 235 000 members, is the second-largest member of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and arguably its most active.
Cosatu is a member of the tripartite alliance and has recently crossed swords with the African National Congress (ANC), also an alliance partner, over various issues including corruption.
The positions of Sadtu president, deputy president, general secretary, deputy general secretary and treasurer will become vacant when the three-day elective congress starts.
General secretary Mugwena Maluleke, who said 1200 delegates are expected to attend, declined to say whether he would be available for re-election .
Sadtu's clout was integral to the effectiveness of Cosatu's recent three-week public sector strike, which drew loud criticism from a range of South Africans, from government ministers to the man in the street.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, who is due to speak at the conference today, said the teachers' strike was "devastating" to SA's floundering public education --- some research shows 70% of public schools are "dysfunctional".
The strike is expected to dominate the congress as delegates are expected to discuss collective bargaining, Mr Maluleke said.
During the recent National Health, Education and Allied Workers Union elective conference, delegates accused their leaders of being sellouts during the public sector strike.
In contrast to the build-up to Sadtu's last elective congress in 2006, there was not too much hype ahead of this one. In 2006 Cosatu-affiliated unions, including Sadtu, were vociferously campaigning for then African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Jacob Zuma to take over the ruling party's presidency.
Sadtu leaders who were believed to be allies of former ANC president Thabo Mbeki were criticised after Mr Mbeki said he would be available for a third term, a move which would have prevented Mr Zuma from taking over the party leadership.
Mr Maluleke said this week's congress would focus mainly on discussing the union's 2030 vision which, among other things, aims at developing teachers.
Sadtu's explanation for almost any criticism thrown at teachers is that most were poorly trained and need better training.
The congress will also discuss the recent ANC national general council declarations related to education, socioeconomic issues and teacher development, Mr Maluleke said.
Safety in schools will also be discussed. *From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=122883* * * * * -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
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