The South African Democratic Techers’ Union (SADTU) welcomes the opening of schools on Tuesday, 9 July 2024 marking the beginning of the third term after a three-weeks recess.

We hope to see both the learners and teachers coming back refreshed to tackle the hectic third term in which schools should finalise the curriculum, do revisions and prepare for end of year examinations and assessments.

SADTU commends the Grade 12 teachers and learners who sacrificed their winter holidays and participated in study camps to ensure they finalise the curriculum so that they can  prepare sufficiently for the final year examinations.

We would like to see effective teaching taking place on the first day of the beginning of the term and we trust our members to ensure that this happens. However, we are aware that the first day is likely to have hurdles due to adverse weather conditions with the Western Cape being the most affected. Even though we have not received information on the state of schools’ infrastructure, we are aware of the damage to the roads which may prevent the learners as well as teachers from accessing schools. The homes of learners and teachers, more especially in informal areas, were flooded and damaged, and as a result school uniforms and books were either soaked or swept away.

Some schools in other parts of the country may also not function optimally due to the scourge of theft and vandalism that is becoming prevalent in schools. In Limpopo, four schools have been robbed and vandalised resulting in damages costing hundreds and thousands of rands.

According to police reports, Gidela Secondary School in Ximausa village was torched and looted this past weekend. An undisclosed amount of money was stolen, and the school was set alight resulting in damages worth R341 700. Stationery, furniture, and sport equipment are some of the items that were damaged by the fire.

Three other schools, Ximausa Mpembelani Secondary School, Haaka Primary School and Nobelhoek Primary School were robbed of laptops and school furniture. Such incidents have untold effects on the functioning of schools as they not only rob both the learners and teachers the resources to teach and learn, but they also have a demoralising effect.

We commend the community members who alerted police when they saw fire at Gidela Secondary School. This is true to SADTU’s call on all stakeholders to be the eyes and ears of their schools as part of the Union’s “I’m A School Fan” campaign.

We urge police and communities to work together in bringing to book the people behind these evil acts.

Further, SADTU has noted increasing attacks on school principals and teachers by community structures we believe are either misled or rented by those who are against the revolutionary responsibility of educators as nation builders.

We regard any community that promotes lawlessness in learning institutions as counter revolutionary.  Education is an enabler and game changer. Any community that is against learning is doing disservice to the society.

We would like to see all stakeholders in education – government, communities, parents, teachers, learners, business, and community organisations – playing their part in ensuring that effective learning and teaching takes place in this third term.

ISSUED BY: SADTU Secretariat

CONTACT: General Secretary, Mugwena Maluleke: 082 783 2968

              Deputy General Secretary, Nkosana Dolopi: 082 709 5651

For media comments call:             

Secretariat Officer, Xolani Fakude: 071 355 1566

Media Officer, Nomusa Cembi: 082 719 5157