Sadtu still backs Zuma, despite court ruling

African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Jacob Zuma is the only man who can steer the ANC-led tripartite alliance back to its leftist tradition and worker bias, the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sastu) said on Friday.

Sadtu held a national general council meeting in Johannesburg where it said the whole process of the “so-called corruption charges” against Zuma has long lost any credibility.

“Zuma’s leadership capabilities, and our support for his candidacy as ANC president by ANC branches, are unshaken and stronger than ever,” said Sadtu spokesperson John Lewis in a statement.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld an appeal by the Scorpions against a Durban High Court order setting aside five search warrants against Zuma and his attorney Michael Hulley.

The court held in a majority judgement that the warrants under consideration expressed “intelligibly and with certainty” their authority and that the law under which they were issued required no more.

Sadtu called for provincial alliance meetings where the position of the Congress of South African Trade Unions’s central committee on ANC leadership will be discussed and vigorously supported.

The general council also resolved to call for an alliance pact, to reject the government’s occupation-specific dispensation and to launch a national campaign for the safety of teachers and pupils.—Sapa