Mounting tensions between the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) and the National Teachers’ Union (Natu) in KwaZulu-Natal have been blamed for the recent kidnapping and murder of two teachers in the province.
The presidents of both Sadtu and Natu have undertaken to hold a summit involving both unions following the deaths of Philile Mthenjane, the deputy-principal of Hlokohloko Primary School in Jozini near Empangeni, and Phindile Ntuli, a department head.
Police have since arrested Anton Mthenjwa, the principal of the school and a Sadtu member, in connection with the events. Mthenjwa allegedly hired Bhekani Gumede and Thulani Qwabe to kill his colleagues.
Natu’s spokesperson Alan Thompson alleged that Mthenjane and Ntuli were killed because Natu is making inroads in Sadtu’s traditional strongholds such as Jozini, where the two slain teachers were based.
Thompson said that at the time of her death, Mthenjane, who was Natu’s regional chairperson, had recruited almost the entire staff at their school. Between March and August last year, Thompson said, Mthenjane had recruited 248 members from Sadtu in the region.
This, according to Thompson, gave rise to a climate of intolerance in the area. The last straw was the investigation the two murdered teachers launched into allegations that both the principal and the chairperson of the school governing body were mismanaging school finances, said Thompson.
He said that before they were killed, the duo received death threats and that some Sadtu members confirmed a “resolution to have them eliminated”.
But Sadtu’s provincial secretary Sipho Nkosi denied the allegations. He said that immediately after the killings, he obtained a report from the Jozini branch secretary that confirmed Mathenjwa was a member of Sadtu but had been inactive for some time. “The report I had from the branch secretary is that he has not attended any meeting of the union in a long time,” said Nkosi.
He also rubbished Natu’s claims that its support is fast outstripping that of Sadtu. “There is no turf-war between us and Natu. This notion about rivalry is peddled by Natu, who go to their friends in the local newspapers to say they have recruited 400 members from Sadtu,” said Nkosi.
He said Sadtu’s records show that in December 2005 their audited membership stood at 40 663 and that last year this increased to 43 201. “In that period Natu’s audited membership stood at around 25 thousand-odd, and last year it stood at 25 047,” Nkosi said. He added that “of the 79 462 teachers in KwaZulu-Natal, we control over 43 203 as opposed to Natu’s 25 247”.
Willy Madisha, president of Sadtu, said it was crucial that the meeting between Sadtu and Natu takes place. “This [meeting] will ensure that we deal with tensions between the two unions. We also need to look at how we can work together to take up joint problems that affect us as teachers with the department in KwaZulu-Natal,” Madisha said.
The hostilities between the two unions should be seen against the backdrop of their divergent ideological and political positions. Sadtu is affiliated to Cosatu and the ANC while Natu’s political sympathies lie with the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).
IFP’s youth brigade, for instance, resolved last year at their conference to “recognise Natu as an important and valuable national player in the field of education” and to “urge all IFP education activists to support Natu’s activities and programmes”.
It is feared that if the current fallout between the two unions is not handled maturely, this may lead to more incidents of violence.
The provincial education department declined to comment on the “friction between unions”. Instead, it appealed to “all concerned to show maturity and let the police do their work to bring the perpetrators of this ghastly act to book”.