ANC supports DA motion welcoming dismissal of Equal Education/SADTU case

20 July 2023

At today’s sitting of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, the House unanimously adopted my motion to welcome the Western Cape High Court’s dismissal of a legal challenge mounted by Equal Education and the South African Democratic Teacher’s Union against certain provisions of the Western Cape Provincial School Education Amendment Act of 2018. This judgement essentially affirmed the legality Western Cape Education Department’s collaboration schools model, which the WCED uses to provide free, quality education to some of the Western Cape’s most underprivileged learners.

The motion, which I moved on behalf of the DA, read as follows:

That the House welcomes this week’s Western Cape High Court judgment in the matter between Equal Education and the South African Democratic Teacher’s Union, and the Western Cape Education Department;

Notes that the court dismissed the plaintiffs’ challenge to provisions contained in the Western Cape Provincial School Education Act of 2018, with the court noting that the application “cannot succeed and falls to be dismissed”;

Notes that this judgment reaffirms the legality and constitutionality of the Western Cape Education Department’s collaboration schools model;

Further notes that this week’s judgment allows the continuation of the collaboration schools model, and will allow the Western Cape Government’s Department of Education to continue its work with private sector and non-profit partners to provide free quality education to thousands of learners in the Western Cape.

No opposition party objected to the motion, resulting in its unanimous adoption. This would seem to suggest that the ANC has recognised that the WCED’s collaboration model is not only legal, but also worthwhile. I call upon my ANC colleagues in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament to promote the collaboration schools model to their counterparts at the national level, so that children across South Africa can benefit from proven, tested, and legally-sound policy.

Issued by Deidré Baartman, DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Education, 20 July 2023