The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) in KwaZulu-Natal marched from King Dinizulu Park to the Marine Building government offices earlier today (16 October), highlighting what it described as deficiencies in the province’s education system. The march came days after the Matric Class of 2026 began writing the National Senior Certificate examinations on Tuesday, 13 October.
The union said the march aimed to highlight challenges facing the provincial Department of Education, particularly those affecting schools and teachers.
“This march is informed by observations made by the union and the outcry from teachers, principals, SMTs and office-based teachers that education is deliberately made to collapse by many decisions that are imposed by among others, the Department of Finance in this province.”
SADTU said the issues it aimed to raise included the appointment of PAG, which it said acted against education policies and collective agreements, resulting in unnecessary delays in departmental processes and affecting school operations. Other concerns included the non-payment or late payment of financial allocations to schools; the failure to appoint teachers, including substitute teachers, leaving some classrooms without educators; and unfilled office-based posts, which it said compromised support provided to schools by district offices.
The union also raised concerns about the non-payment of acting allowances to office-based teachers and other employees; a lack of safety and security at schools; non-payment of pay progression; the failure to absorb all qualified Grade R practitioners; and the non-implementation of HRM 10 of 2026.
The union concluded the march by handing a memorandum of demands to the government.
