Teacher Unions and Policy-making in South Africa: Exclusion, Contestation and Collaboration

This chapter examines the role of the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) in education policy within the general context of teacher unions in the policy arena. The argument pursued in this chapter posits three main claims. First, throughout the apartheid era, teacher organisations in South Africa were fragmented along racial lines and black teachers were excluded from policy decision-making. Second, with the transition to democracy, there emerged a trend towards professional unionism and increased collaboration among teacher unions; however, SADTU’s political alignment with the African National Congress-led Tripartite Alliance has undermined its independence in the policy arena. Third, since the transition to democracy from the 1990s to the present, teacher unions’ participation in policy-making has been characterised by contestation and gradually greater collaboration with education departments. The chapter concludes with the observation that the key policy challenge confronting SADTU is to deepen the professional dimension of its policy work whereby, as the largest teachers’ union in the country, it is seen to lead the development of policies that benefit its key beneficiaries, the children of the poor and working class.