The Unionization of the Teaching Profession and its Effects on the South African Education System: Teacher Unionism in South Africa

The New Surfacing Image of the Teaching Profession

“…Teacher unionism in South Africa therefore emerged as a result of continued harassment of non-white teachers by the then government officials. Zengele (2011) agrees with Behr (1984) that an association of teachers that is discussed in this section does not really fit the description of a union but an association. The word ‘association’ is, however, used interchangeably with ‘unionism’ in South Africa and in this article.…”

“…Teacher unions which consisted of all racial groups in South Africa emerged as part of the struggle against the oppressive apartheid regime as already enunciated. One of these became the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) which currently has the largest membership of teachers in South Africa (Zengele, 2011). The National Professional Teachers’ Organization of South Africa (NAPTOSA) was established post-1994 from a number of previously segregated unions according to (Balt, 2008).…”

“…The National Professional Teachers’ Organization of South Africa (NAPTOSA) was established post-1994 from a number of previously segregated unions according to (Balt, 2008). Zengele (2011) clarifies that SADTU is an affiliate of a large labour federation, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), which is in a tripartite alliance with the African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party in South Africa together with the South African Communist Party (SACP).…”

“…NAPTOSA suffered a severe blow when Afrikaans teachers withdrew their membership and formed the Suid Afrikaanse Onderwysers Unie (SAOU) (in English, South African Teachers’ Union) when they realised that the Afrikaans language was facing extinction in schools through the new collaborative and non-racial policies (Govender, 2004; Zengele, 2011). This further made SADTU the largest union with membership figures reaching about 200,000 in South Africa (Zengele, 2011). That represented about 80% of organised labour in the teaching profession (Govender, 2004).…”

“…According to the ELRC Policy Handbook for Educators (2003), the ELRC is a body that was constituted to bargain for the basic working conditions of teachers in South Africa after the end of apartheid in 1994. Its main purpose was to constitute a body that would look after teachers while they were engaged in effective teaching and learning activities thus redeeming their professional status, according to Zengele (2011).…”