Cosatu to echo ‘Thuma mina’ in effort to improve service delivery and efficiency
Sadtu urges Cosatu to resolve at this week's congress to make a 'concerted effort to change the image of public institutions'
Cosatu unions, which represent more than 800,000 civil servants, want to find ways to build caring and empathic state institutions to combat poor service delivery and a lack of efficiency in the public service. To achieve this, the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) has proposed that the Cosatu congress — which gets under way today — resolve to make a "concerted effort to change the image of public institutions". More than 50% of Cosatu’s 1.6-million members are government employees. A 2017 study by the Centre for Development and Enterprise found that pupils lose about 40% of learning time every year in SA schools because teachers habitually skip classes. Consequently, Sadtu, by far the most powerful union in public schools, is often blamed for the country’s poor educational outcomes. According to the proposed resolution, public servants should adopt the "thuma mina" philosophy advocating honesty, integrity and volunteerism. Inspired by late musician Hugh Masekela, President Cyri...
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