Letters | Unemployed teachers: The unfortunate story of jobs for pals in SA

The Witnessletter on Tuesday from Nonkululeko Ntshangase, headed “Jobless teachers”, refers. Our sympathy must go to the teachers who fail to find employment within the government education system. Unfortunately, in South Africa it is not a case of what you know, it is a case of who you know in the government.

The government is riddled with incompetent, unqualified and uncaring civil servants who got their jobs through the political networking scheme that was overseen for many years by our honourable president. This cancerous policy that was designed and implemented since 1994 by the ANC, is the reason that South Africa is in the process of falling to its knees. Maybe teachers need to pocket their pride and bow down in front of the local SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) chair with some “cool drink” money in their right hand.

Sadtu seems to decide who gets jobs in education. The national Minister of Higher Education, Buti Manamela, is requesting the Special Investigating Unit investigate a “jobs for comrades” scam nestled in the hierarchy of the national department, brought to light by a whistle-blower. The department is obviously a thriving nest of political white ants needing their share of the tax spoils.

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Unemployed teachers will need to decide whether they wish to join this circus, otherwise they may remain jobless. This is the price to be paid for having a corrupt government that really doesn’t care what quality of education it delivers to the nation’s children, who are the future of our nation.

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