Blade Nzimande: National disgrace should resign
The Democratic Alliance (DA) today calls for the resignation of the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr. Blade Nzimande. Time and again Minister Nzimande has demonstrated through his words and his actions that he is not fit to be a cabinet minister, let alone at the helm of a ministry that is supposed to be the custodian of critical and engaged thinking. He is a disgrace to our parliamentary system and constitutional democracy. His latest reduction of legitimate criticism of the Zuma administration to inappropriate and derogatory racial terms merely confirms his unsuitability.
In my speech responding to President Zuma on the state of education yesterday, Minister Nzimande, lacking the wit to address my concerns legitimately, decided to resort to crude name-calling and portray the administration as helpless victims of a race conspiracy. He said:
"If the matric results are bad, this is taken as proof that this government of darkies is incapable. If the matric pass rate goes up, it means the results have been manipulated by these darkies."
Minister Nzimande can play the game of racial victimization as much as he likes in private; that is his business. However, in our country's most important forum for debating issues that affect the lives of all South Africans, he should at least treat the issues at hand with the respect that they deserve and not with utter contempt. Parliament cannot be treated like the politburo of the South African Communist Party, where outdated rhetoric of battles long since fought are the order of the day.
The fact is that I raised legitimate issues of concern to all who care about education in South Africa, specifically the question of the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU). In his State of the Nation address in 2010, President Zuma pledged that teachers would always be in school and teaching, with no exceptions tolerated.
Then, last year, the administration looked on dumbfounded as SADTU brought the education system to a grinding halt for three weeks and, in certain instances, destroyed school property and threatened students and other teachers. Indeed, SADTU's ‘activism' has been a leading factor in crippling the Eastern Cape's education system.
Additionally, as far as matric results go, if Minister Nzimande is so confident of all the processes involved, why does he simply not state the facts? Well, perhaps it is because the fact is that the standards board, Umalusi, practiced grade inflation, leaving matric results an uncertain determinant of education success, as most education analysts agree.
We thought that the era of cheap racial politicking, President Mbeki's favoured response to criticism, had died with his administration. However, it seems that the paranoia that relies on such cheap ripostes runs very deep indeed. Minister Nzimande should be ashamed. He should leave and leave now.
Statement issued by Dr. Wilmot James MP, Democratic Alliance Shadow Minister of Basic Education, February 16 2011
Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter
