Coming up on
Cutting Edge tonight:
Episode Title: My Rights - Emalungelo
Broadcast date: 1 October 2009
We have always assumed that in Mzansi trade unions such as the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) exist to correct the wrongs that an employer might have caused.
Word from Cutting Edge is:"We were wrong - SADTU doesn’t only protect its members no matter what wrong they might have caused learners but SADTU would like to believe it is managing some public schools with its employer, the department of education"
This week show returns to Witkoppen Primary School in Fourways. Last month an episode discovered that learners from the poor informal settlement of Kya Sand near Northgate had missed classes since January due to the fact that the school bus driver abused them - with the help of a school teacher who travelled in the same bus. Also exposed: corporal punishment was still used - long after it was abolished in the country.
While teachers chose to behave unprofessionally at the time of the show's first visit and the bus driver stopped short of beating up the show's producer - Cutting Edge wanted to know what has changed since our first story.
Armed with a written permission from the department of education and escorted by one of their official to film at the school - SADTU denied the show entry: telling the crew that SADTU hates the media and refused to allow the show access into the school "because the show might visit other schoosl in the country to ‘eliminate their members’."
Tonight the show asks: who runs public schools - our department of education or SADTU? Chief Director, Moss Nkonyane says he is not co-managing schools with unions even though they are stakeholders. He talks about what happened to the educators who were accused of corporal punishment and the abusive school bus driver.
My Rights - Emalungelo is written and produced by Thuli Nhlapo, edited by Unathi Kentane and filmed by Dudley Saunders.
Cutting Edge is on SABC1 at 21h30.