Cape Town - The ANC's alliance with trade unions has created a culture of impunity that is wreaking havoc in the public sector, Agang SA leader Mamphela Ramphele said on Friday.
“The government cannot regulate trade unions because they use them as voting fodder,” she told business leaders at the Accelerate Cape Town Thought Leaders' breakfast.
“That's why our education system is a mess, because the biggest unions are public sector trade unions, the teacher unions.”
She was referring to the ANC's alliance with the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu), which has as an affiliate the largest teachers' union, the SA Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu).
“Teachers are professionals, not factory workers. Yes, they have rights but what about the rights of those children?
“Our government is in bed with Sadtu and not willing to challenge that...”
Ramphele said the ANC's biggest failure was the education system. She proposed measures her party would put in place if elected into power.
She said 15 000 more teachers would be hired from a pool of unemployed graduates with bachelor's degrees. Allowances would be given to those teaching in rural areas.
Pupils would be rewarded with additional social grants for those achieving above 70 percent averages.
The “wasteful, ineffective” Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta) system would be abolished because it was creating bottlenecks in the economy.
“It absorbs, every year, R5 billion to R6bn. Many of you have given up trying to get any rebate for the training you do.
“We need to remove that middle layer, because all that money is going into the pockets of the politically-connected who are heading all these Seta's with zero return.”
Agang SA would make teacher training a priority by implementing specific subject competency tests.
“When you are a pilot, every three months or so you get your competency test. Why are we not testing the competencies of people who are flying the most precious cargo, our kids?”
Sapa