Complaints against the hiring of teachers affiliated to the trade union Sadtu to officiate at the Electoral Commission (IEC) voting stations during elections are misguided.
And, to fall for the trap would be tantamount to unfair discrimination because most teachers do meet the criteria of men and women the elections agency needs to get the work done.
This is according to IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo in a discussion this week with Sunday World Engage.
Mamabolo says the number of teachers doing IEC work during elections has dropped dramatically over the years.
As things stand, of the 230,000 people who will preside over IEC voting stations next year, only 34,500 are teachers.
Complaints over the use of teachers, mostly Sadtu members, have been perennial, with critics citing the union’s proximity to the ANC as problematic.
But Mamabolo believes the criticism is misplaced because the IEC has no right to discriminate against who it hires to man voting stations based on the unions they are affiliated with.
In any event, he says, most teachers came with experience from doing the work over many elections.
“We have recruitment and selection criteria that we agreed with political parties on the national parties’ liaison committee. In terms of that, you need persons with experience in the roles of presiding and deputy presiding officer,” says Mamabolo.
“You need the experience of people who have run the processes because elections and voting stations are a very high-pressure environment.
“We cannot discriminate against people on the basis of affiliation to a trade union.”
Mamabolo said it was also an exaggeration to club all teachers under the Sadtu umbrella when there were many teacher unions in the country.
The only people who were excluded from the Sadtu ranks, he said, were those who were active in leadership, and that their activism extended to ANC affairs.
“Parties are aware that to raise an objection you have got to state that so and so because of his membership of a trade union he has done is an executive member and has been campaigning. That is the way to do it so that you are constitutionally compliant.”
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