The Presidency is shocked and disappointed by the distortion of a section of President Jacob Zuma's 2012 State of the Nation Address by the Premier of the Western Cape, Ms Helen Zille on Human Rights Day.
Speaking in the Eastern Cape, Ms Zille misled the public, by saying President Zuma had praised the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) in the speech.
Premier Zille said in her speech:
"The conduct of Sadtu over the last two years is nothing short of a national disgrace. It deserves censure from every leader, of every party. To see President Zuma so flippantly thank Sadtu in his State of the Nation Address was to witness political expediency in its worst form. The President sold out the potential and future prospects of every South African learner for a few extra votes in Mangaung. And he thereby helped to perpetuate the crime of unequal "Bantu Education".
That is a gross fabrication and distortion. President Zuma did not mention SADTU at all in the 2012 State of the Nation Address, and to say the President helped to perpetuate Bantu Education is preposterous. He said in the SONA: "Our call to teachers to be in school, in class, on time, teaching for at least seven hours a day remains pivotal to success. We thank the teacher unions for supporting this campaign."
It is unclear why Premier Zille decided to see SADTU and left out other teacher unions. Teachers are an important stakeholder in the education of children. There are many teacher unions in the country and all play a critical role as a partner of government, in promoting the quality learning and teaching campaign. By teacher unions, the President was referring to all of them, the National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa (NAPTOSA), Professional Educators Union (PEU) National Teachers Union (NATU), SADTU and the Suid Afrikaanse Onderwysers Unie (SAOU).
In the 2010 State of the Nation Address, the President also welcomed the support of the unions. He said: "We welcome last month's statement by the three teacher unions, NAPTOSA, SADTU and SAOU, reaffirming their commitment to the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign from the beginning of 2010''.
The educators also deserve to be praised for the matric results which improve each year.
With regards to the Eastern Cape specifically, the Eastern Cape Provincial Government and the South African Democratic Teachers Union signed an Agreement on 8 February to normalise the situation in the province and promote quality learning and teaching.
The agreement was reached following a meeting between the Premier of the Eastern Cape, members of her Executive Council and Cosatu leadership. The President, who personally leads the Task Team working to ensure the normalisation of education in the Eastern Cape, welcomed this development as we need all stakeholders to work together to ensure progress.
It is regrettable that Premier Zille decided to mislead the nation in this manner.
Enquiries:
Mac Maharaj
Cell: 079 879 3203
