EFF statement on 2022 matric results

20 January 2023

The Economic Freedom Fighters Students' Command (EFFSC) observes the late release of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination results of the Class Of 2022. The NSC has, over the years, been a symbol of struggle, hard-work and resilience for many learners Who come from impoverished homes and communities.

Although we commend and celebrate the determination of learners who pass and excel in schools Without textbooks and learning material, broken Windows, collapsing infrastructure and pit toilets, understaffed teachers and predatory staff, we must register our disdain for the government Of the African National Congress (ANC), and all its Ministers who have failed to develop Basic Education in South Africa, and protect the dignity Of the African child. We reaffirm our call for the Old and incompetent Minister Of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, to resign.

We refuse to romanticize the hard and harsh conditions that many learners from townships and the rural areas must learn under. We refuse to romanticize that an African child must walk for many hours and kilometers to get to school. We refuse to romanticize the crossing Of dangerous rivers just to get to school. We refuse to romanticize that the rural girl must go to school without adequate sanitary towels and hygiene. We refuse to romanticize that many must go to school with empty stomachs, under trees, and learn in the dark because there is no electricity.

Although we commend and celebrate the unique ability of the forgotten and overlooked youth, to thrive even in these unbearable material conditions, we refuse to be part Of those Who normalize them in an opportunistic attempt to build a narrative and beautiful Story about poverty and success.

There is nothing normal and worth celebrating about the conditions that the ANC government subjects our learners to every year.

Be that as it may, we salute all those who succeeded, even under such conditions, we salute you because education, to us, means service to Africa. When the racist government of Apartheid designed Bantu Education, its wish was that black people would never educate themselves beyond just being cheap labour and accessories to the white capitalist system. You have demonstrated that black people are destined for more than just being hewers of wood and drawers of water.

The legacy of Bantu Education still stubbornly persists, through the separate development entrenched by the Independent Examinations Board (IEB), The rich and privileged continue to send their children to private schools with better facilities and learning opportunities. The EFFSC has always been consistent in its call for a standardized, equal and unitary education system in South Africa, Basic education must be free, equal and compulsory for all.

To those who did not make it this time around, it is not the end. Time and age are still on your side.

Do not be discouraged,remain committed as you engage in re-writes and or other post-secondary education opportunities.

To those who will be arriving in universities and Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges, you must look for a red T-shirt and Beret of the EFF Students' Command. No one must tell you that vou cannot apply and register, No single institution has the right to close its doors on you.

The EFFSC will be ready, in each campus, to ensure that you have a smooth transition between secondary to tertiary education. No one must demand money from you to register, No one must tell you that there is no accommodation space for you, It is not a secret that many learners come from poor communities which make it difficult for them to meet the online application processes and standards. Therefore, any and all academically deserving learners must carry their results, reports and supporting documents and physically walk and apply in institutions of their choice.

We reject and will not comply with the arrogance of universities that have publicly declared that they will not allow Walk-ins. There are over 720 000 learners who passed their Matric exams. Our uncompromising call to the department of higher education is that all of them must be placed in post-secondary education and opportunities. No learner must go back to the village or township, to sit at home, after having passed Matric.

Issued by Sihle Lonzi, President, EFF Student Command, 20 January 2023