Zuma's Racist Comments on Criticism of Matric Result Out of Order
Johannesburg; 8 January 2014: Agang SA rejects President Jacob Zuma's attempts to dismiss scepticism over the latest Matric results as racism.While on the campaign trail in Mpumalanga today, Zuma told communities that calls for a probe into the veracity of the Matric results came from people who did not believe black people were capable of passing.
This bizarre and divisive attempt at deflecting attention away from the problem, which is that the education system has been consistently failing black children since the ANC came into power 20 years ago, will not work.
It will not change the fact on the governing party's watch, the Matric qualification has consistently lost its value, leading to it being increasingly shunned by both universities and employers.
Zuma's unseemly attempt to deflect attention away from the ANC's failures in education by hiding behind the rock of racism is bound to fail - just like the government's idiotic strategy for absolving Zuma of blame for Nkandlagate, by saying he was unaware of the R200 upgrade to his own home.
Zuma's latest gaffe comes as no surprise, following as it does Cyril Ramaphosa's recent scaremongering electioneering statement in Limpopo; that people should vote for the ANC to stop whites returning to power. The irony is that party spokesperson Jackson Mthembu now boasts that the ANC's founding fathers would be proud of the party's current crop of leaders.
What the country needs now is decisive action to ensure that all South African children get the quality education they deserve for 21st century jobs - regardless of colour or class.
Agang SA says that every child deserves an education that prepares them for a life of dignity and self-confidence as contributing citizens. Every child is born with infinite capacity for greatness. Teaching and learning in the classroom must be an enabler of the emergence of the potential of all young people.
Statement issued by Rorisang Tshabalala, Agang SA Youth Forum, January 8 2014
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