The Citizen reports that sparks are expected to fly at the Suid Afrikaanse Onderwysers Unie’s (SAOU) annual principals’ conference, with concerned members asking Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga to reconsider her decision to attend the event.  

The group of principals have vowed to use the trade union’s Principals Symposium to sharply demand answers on allegations of financial irregularities involving more than R500m currently being probed by the Hawks.  The union is hosting the four-day seminar at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, from 1 to 4 September, with the minister expected to deliver a keynote address on the third day.  In a letter dated 22 August from the group’s lawyers, the concerned members notified Motshekga about the criminal investigation against the union’s top brass currently underway.  “We are instructed that the investigation is focused on the financial management of the SAOU as well as several historical transactions. […] The Department of Labour is currently undertaking an investigation into several allegations of financial mismanagement made by various members of the SAOU,” the lawyers state.  The letter goes on to indicate:  “Given the seriousness of the allegations, and the advanced stage of the investigations […,] it is our respectful request that the decision to attend and speak at the Symposium be reconsidered.”  Louw Erasmus, the union’s lawyer and spokesperson, responded that the aims of the “disgruntled members” were to disrupt the proceedings and cause an embarrassment for the SAOU and the minister.

• Read the full original of the above report by Sipho Mabena at The Citizen

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