Chief Luthuli would say to you: "I judge people on their actions, not only by what they say, because I am a man of the cloth, I am a teacher and I have fought for your liberation. After all, I have heard this Minister saying that she is going to engage in a process in terms of which we can celebrate one curriculum and assessment policy statement from Grade R to Grade 12 and in which everybody, all stakeholders, will participate."
Indeed, the Minister said so and she did so: Why do you doubt it? Why are you not affirming her commitment to the truth and for transformation? [Interjections.]
Chief Luthuli would say: "Mr Swart, you belong to this nonracial democracy. You are white. You may be called "swart", which is "black" ... [Laughter.] ... but your heart, your soul and your mind belong to this democracy, because you believe that our schools and learning environments must change and must reflect the true character of our democracy." That is why Mr Swart is here, that is why we celebrate him: because he is competent and equal.
What you have not told us, in terms of what you could tell us, is that for the first time in the history of this country there is a collective commitment by the unions and the Department of Basic Education, a teacher framework for development, that more than R500 million is going to be spent on teacher competency, and in order to assess the competency of teachers they would have to be tested diagnostically. They have agreed to it. The leader of the union would say to you: if it is for development, we have no difficulty. That is Sadtu. [Applause.] That is Sadtu!