TATA, together with other teachers' organisations in the Cape, the Free State and Natal, strongly opposed it.
TATA elected a new, radical, leadership, including Zephania Mothopeng as president, but along with Eskia Mphahlele and Isaac Matlare, he was dismissed from teaching in 1952.
The union reunited with TATU in 1957, as the Transvaal United African Teachers' Association', under a more cautious leadership.
[2][3] By 1984, the union was able to employ its first full-time member of staff, Matshidiso Lizzy Tshabalala, who served as general secretary until 2018.
It participated in negotiation around the formation of the South African Democratic Teachers Union, but decided to remain independent.