SADTU against appointment of DA's Gwarube as basic education minister

JOHANNESBURG - With less than a day since being appointed basic education minister, Siviwe Gwarube is already facing a baptism of fire from the country’s biggest teacher union, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU).

SADTU said that it is against a Democratic Alliance (DA) member taking up such an important portfolio since the party was not aligned with its values.

At 34-years-old, Siviwe Gwarube becomes the youngest person to be appointed basic education minister.

She replaces Angie Motshekga, who held the position for 15 years.

In fact, when Motshekga was first sworn in as education minister in 2009, Gwarube was a second-year student at Rhodes University, studying politics, law and philosophy.

In an interview with online journal "Spotlight", Gwarube said that she studied through a NSFAS loan, which she said was one of a few things the ANC government, got right.

After graduating, Gwarube joined the DA, working her way from party leader spokesperson to official opposition parliamentary chief whip.

Gwarube joins the education department with the awkward task of implementing the Basic Education Laws Amendment policy, which her party is strongly opposed to.