SAHRC agrees to investigate textbook delivery failures

6 March 2017

The South African Human Rights Commission’s (SAHRC) has agreed to the DA’s request that they investigate the Eastern Cape Department of Education for their failure to deliver top-up textbooks to more than 50 % of schools in the province.

On 21 February 2017, the DA wrote to the SAHRC to request an investigation into the Department of Education in the Eastern Cape, after a presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education revealed that an astounding 42 % of top-up textbooks had not been delivered.

The SAHRC’s decision to investigate this matter is based on a “prima facia violation of a human right” and is a clear indication that the Eastern Cape’s Education Department has breached the human rights of vulnerable young South Africans.

Many of the affected schools, especially those in the townships, have experienced a backlog in textbooks and other educational resources for many years.

It is unacceptable that young South Africans, who are desperate for a quality education and the opportunities that education provide, are subjected to such gross negligence by the ANC-led government.

In the Western Cape where the DA govern we believe in empowering our young people to be the best they can and therefore we have the best performance record in delivering textbooks on time for the start of the school year.

It is of utmost importance that our children have the necessary tools to create better lives for themselves.

Yet, the ANC-led government is failing yet another generation of young people.

The SAHRC investigation will play an important role in holding the Eastern Cape’s Education Department accountable for their failures.

Issued by Nomsa Marchesi, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Basic Education, 6 March 2017