Johannesburg - An investigation into the conduct of basic education director general Bobby Soobrayan must leave no stone unturned, teacher union Sadtu said on Wednesday.
"We don't want to see a repeat of [the] Limpopo saga in 2013," the SA Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu) said in a statement.
"We give the minister seven days to operationalise (sic) the president's [Jacob Zuma] instruction."
Last week, a report of the presidential task team into late textbook deliveries in Limpopo recommended that Soobrayan be investigated. Based on the report, Zuma had decided that the Public Service Commission should investigate Soobrayan.
This related to, among others, Soobrayan's alleged indecisiveness on receipt of a letter from the textbook publishers in December last year. In the letter, the publishers reminded him that pupil teacher support materials had not been ordered for the Limpopo education department.
Soobrayan also apparently failed to provide the necessary support when the Limpopo education department was placed under national administration.
Sadtu condemned what it said was Soobrayan's running to the media to plead his innocence. This showed contempt for government processes and institutions.
The teachers' union also expressed shock at the department of basic education's advert in newspapers, defending itself after a Section27 application at the High Court in Pretoria.
"Instead of the director general wasting the public funds by placing advertisements in the newspapers trying to clear his name, he should use every available avenue to inform the nation if books are going to be delivered on time in 2013," it said.
Sadtu called on Zuma not to allow anyone to stand in his way of delivering quality public education.