Sunday Independent.png SADTU warns of action on 'jobs for cash' report Solly Maphumulo, Sunday Independent, Johannesburg, 27 March 2016 The South African Democratic Teachers' Union (SADTU) has threatened to take legal action against Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and her ministerial task team to gain access to the final report on the "jobs for cash" scandal before it is tabled before the cabinet next week. In a scathing attack on the ministerial task team yesterday, SADTU said its leaked interim report targeted "SADTU and its members to cover up the weaknesses of the education system". The task team was established to investigate allegations that SADTU members were selling principal and deputy principal posts for up to R30 000 and more at schools in the North West, the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Gauteng and Mpumalanga. The task team was led by Professor John Volmink. SADTU's general secretary, Mugwena Maluleke, said: "The union has made some observations from the leaked interim report itself and the process leading to its finalisation, which has brought us to the conclusion that it lacks credibility and cannot be an accurate reflection of the situation on the ground." One of SADTU's major concerns was that the interim report had been leaked to the media and others before a copy had been given to the affected parties, Maluleke said. Following the leak, Motshekga called a press conference at which she made the task team's interim findings known. "At that stage SADTU had not been afforded the courtesy of seeing the report or making comments (about it), despite (its) being held out as an interim report," Maluleke said. SADTU had since obtained a copy of the interim report. It had approached the task team to express its concern about a number of aspects and findings in this report. The task team "has elected not to respond to any of the specific issues raised by SADTU and to provide, where requested, supporting evidence of its findings and conclusions", Maluleke said. Motshekga's spokesman, Elijah Mhlanga, said yesterday that the ministry would not be commenting on SADTU's statement. It would be meeting the union on April 14. SADTU spokeswoman Nomusa Cembi said this would be too late as the report was to be tabled at the cabinet meeting on April 5. "We are worried that the issues that we raised in the interim report have not been corrected." Cembi said the union had written a letter to the minister. "We are waiting for (Motshekga's) response. "All the parties involved should be consulted before the report is tabled in cabinet. "We have every right to take the legal route if it's tabled before we are consulted. "We are getting legal opinion." Mugwena Maluleke said SADTU had written numerous letters to Volmink, asking him and his team to clarify aspects and findings made in the report. "We have not received any positive response," he said. He said the task team had not made specific findings with regard to SADTU or to any specific official having been involved in the irregular appointments. Despite this, the task team made generalised statements and expressed a negative view of the teachers' union. "In a previous statement on the same matter, we have characterised this as 'a report based on suggestions and innuendoes'," Mugwena said. "This view has been strengthened by the release of the final report. "We will demand to be provided with a copy of the report to study and consider our options. "We reject any proposition (that we have been taken) through the report, as has been suggested by the minister. "We will consider our options, including possible legal action, to (gain) access to the (final) report should the minister refuse, as the task team has done, to provide (SADTU with) a copy of (it)." From: <http://mini.iol.co.za/news/politics/sadtu-declares-war-over-jobs-for-cash-r eport-2001812?page=1> http://mini.iol.co.za/news/politics/sadtu-declares-war-over-jobs-for-cash-re port-2001812?page=1 -- -- 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] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
