President Cyril Ramaphosa has been called on by the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) to take action against Siviwe Gwarube, Minister of Basic Education, over the continued suspension of the new Foundation Phase textbook catalogue. The union stated that the investigations found no wrongdoing in the procurement process. It is also accusing the minister of political interference, stating that this could undermine transformation and smaller publishers.
Xolani Fakude, SADTU Secretariat Officer, said that the Grade 1 and 3 catalogue should be implemented. “We as a sector are now needing to implement that national catalogue for Grade 1 to 3 foundation phase and then we are told that it cannot be. We are now also fighting back and saying that it can not be that the Minister has got such a vested interest in terms of how we deal with issues at an administrative level,” Fakude explained.
Fakude added that the union will not accept further delays.”That is where we are right now, and we are saying that it should be implemented. We have seen the frustrations before, and we are not going to accept that any longer,” Fakude said.
