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Sadtu not above reproach

PRESIDENT Zuma, pictured , lamented at Cosatu' s conference that teachers in mainly African schools do not honour classes.

PRESIDENT Zuma, pictured , lamented at Cosatu' s conference that teachers in mainly African schools do not honour classes.

Why did he not raise this concern when Sadtu teachers left classes to support him at the Pietermaritzburg high court?

While I sympathise with teachers not getting OSD as the ANC promised during the elections, I am not sympathetic to Sadtu's abdication of duty and lack of professionalism.

In the 2007 public servants strike Sadtu closed hospitals and schools. Zuma said nothing because his arch-rival, Thabo Mbeki, had to be discredited at any cost. This politics of double standards has come back to haunt Zuma. Teachers in Umlazi, Mbumbulu, Katlehong or any African rural or township area spend four hours in class. These are Sadtu activists and members. The same union has forced Cassius Lubisi to resign. Where is KK Nkosi now? In the KZN legislature earning R500000 a year and fiercely defending Blade Nzimande for buying a BMW at R1,1m.

The laziness and loafing Zuma spoke about can be resolved by depoliticising appointments of principals.

This call was made by Cope after experiences in the KwaZulu bantustan and Zimbabwe, where positions were awarded on party patronage.

The same practice has been adopted by the ANC and Sadtu. When we have high failure rates, Zuma and his left-wing allies blame apartheid. Look at how inefficient ANC municipal managers are.

Cosatu indicates left, but then blindly turns right. Can Zuma use "umshini wakhe" to whip Sadtu teachers back into class?

Tony Chetty, Umzinto

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