The Suid-Afrikaanse Onderwysers Unie (SAOU), sometimes translated as the South African Teachers' Union, is a trade union representing principally Afrikaans-speaking teachers in South Africa.
The union was founded in 1905 to represent Afrikaans-speaking white teachers in the Cape Province.
It aimed to improve the pay and working conditions of teachers, to promote education in general, and the use of the Afrikaans language.
[2] In 1991, the union affiliated to the National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa (NAPTOSA), a loose federation.
It initially focused its campaigns on preserving exclusively Afrikaans-speaking schools.