Angie Motshekga is in breach of two court orders
Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga, is currently in breach of two separate court orders.
The Minister has breached a court order issued in August last year, and reviewed in March this year, instructing her to fill teaching and support posts in the Eastern Cape. She is also in breach of an order requiring textbook delivery for 2013 to be completed by 15 December 2012. Schools in Limpopo are still reporting that they have not received their full complement of textbooks - in the second quarter of the school year, and coming on the back of a year in which it took the department more than six months to deliver all required textbooks.
The DA applauds the Legal Resources Centre, the Centre for Child Law and Section 27 for pursuing justice on behalf of our learners in both these matters.
However, it is simply unacceptable that a Minister responsible for the apex priority in this country should have to be compelled by the courts to deliver on her mandate.
The DA will be monitoring proceedings in both these cases and trusts that the courts will act swiftly in providing the relief sought.
Last week, I, along with Deputy Shadow Minister Donald Smiles and our provincial counterpart Edmund van Vuuren, visited numerous schools in the Eastern Cape - all of which had at least 10 vacant posts. As of last week, the province had 8800 teacher vacancies and a reported 7000 vacant support staff posts. The fact that teaching is taking place at all in some schools is a testament to the commitment of the principals and their staff and entirely despite the efforts (or lack thereof) of the Minister.
Education it is the key to opportunity and potential prosperity. It is South Africa's number one priority. Minister Motshekga's failings directly impact the lives and futures of our young people. They are failings this country cannot afford.
Statement issued by Annette Lovemore MP, DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education, April 18 2013
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