We call on the unions to fight alongside us and not against us – David Maynier – POLITICS

We are aware of the strike threats from teachers’ unions.

A strike will not change the fact that we are being ripped off by the national government, which has only covered 64 percent of the costs of the collective agreement negotiated with the unions at the national level, while the province has to finance the remaining 36 percent.

Even if we were to scrap all the programmes proposed by the teachers' unions, we would not even come close to addressing the massive R3.8 billion budget deficit.

The situation is critical. If we do not take drastic measures to address the massive deficit, we will jeopardise our ability to pay our bills, which include teachers' salaries.