Pretoria - As the ANC heads towards its 55th national elective conference, a union linked to the party, the SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu), has urged party members to cease factional battles and use the conference to find solutions to fighting rampant crime and corruption.
Sadtu’s general secretary, Mugwena Maluleke, issued the call after the teachers’ union concluded its last national executive committee (NEC) meeting yesterday ahead of the closure of schools next week.
While their statement focused on the state of education, Sadtu also commented on the ailing economy, the rise in food prices and interest rates, as well as political developments in the ANC.
“We urge the delegates to prioritise the people of our country and the continent. They must then strive and be resolute on the unity of the movement and avoid the narrow, subjective outlook on the challenges facing the country and the movement.
“They must focus their attention and decide how education can be used to drive the country’s developmental agenda and social cohesion. They must focus on how we should break the fundamentals and legacies of an economic system which continues to produce unemployment, poverty and inequality,” Maluleke said.
He said Sadtu would like to see clear resolutions on how to address the country’s energy crisis and fix Eskom, which remains an albatross in the ANC’s economic growth strategies.
Maluleke said they must focus on crime, elevate the issue of gender-
based violence and the war against the girl child, mothers and sisters, saying gender-based violence had become a serious pandemic that needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
“The conference must recommit to strengthen their resolve on corruption which remains our immediate challenge.
“They must focus on how to strengthen law enforcement through more funding and recruitment of the best legal minds that will assist in ensuring more convictions on corruption.”
Maluleke also said that the conference should not be about electing leaders only, but about how to save the country from the brink of an economic collapse.
On the latest interest rate hike, Maluleke said his NEC noted the devastating effects of rising interest rates on the economy and employment.
“The GDP growth was revised downward again as a feature of the exclusive and unsustainable economy from 1.9% to 1.8%.
“The NEC condemned the insensitive ‘privatised’ South African Reserve Bank for increasing the interest rate by 7bps.
“(This comes) amid high unemployment and runaway inflationary pressures that are devastating the working class as transport, food and fuel prices are extremely high.”
He alleged the Reserve Bank was driving the austerity policies of the World Bank and IMF which, he claimed, were causing the economy not to grow, making it difficult for small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) and companies to reopen after the Covid-19 lockdowns.
“SMMEs are important role-players in job creation and cannot secure affordable loans from the banks because of high interest rates.
“This crisis exacerbates the Eskom situation since it cannot secure loans to maintain the infrastructure to provide consistent power to drive the economy,” he said.
Maluleke said the NEC called for the review of the South African Reserve Bank’s mandate and its total transformation to play a positive role in the economic growth of the country to eradicate poverty.
He also said his NEC further called for an alliance economic summit to address the “chronic corruption” at Eskom and other mismanaged SOEs in the best interest of the people.
Pretoria News