IFP demands answers on plans to prevent loadshedding during exams

21 October 2022

The IFP in the KZN Legislature calls upon the KZN MEC for Education, Mbali Frazer, to present a detailed plan of the measures currently in place to prevent the disruption of examinations in KZN during loadshedding.

The 2022 National Senior Certificate final exams will begin on 31 October and continue until 7 December.

KwaZulu-Natal is grappling with loadshedding, with electricity blackouts continuing for several hours each day and night as Eskom battles to keep the lights on. Therefore, it is imperative that the KZN MEC for Education restore confidence - for parents and learners - that examinations will not be disrupted by loadshedding. The MEC must present a detailed plan on the contingency measures currently in place to prevent loadshedding during examinations. This is non-negotiable, and no excuses will be tolerated.

The IFP demands that the KZN MEC provide answers to the following:

How many schools in KwaZulu-Natal are exempted from loadshedding?

How many schools in KwaZulu-Natal have been provided with back-up generators?

How many schools in KwaZulu-Natal have not been provided with back-up generators?

How many schools in KwaZulu-Natal have made applications seeking approval for the installation of solar panels?

Is there any budget available for the procurement of back-up generators to be installed in schools?

All these questions must be answered by the KZN MEC for Education. As the political head, the buck stops with her.

The current spate of loadshedding is having an adverse impact on learners and students at this critical time of the academic year. We believe that schools must be treated like establishments such as official residences, which are exempted from loadshedding; the electricity supply of schools must be stable.

The future of our children must not be compromised due to incompetence on the part of ANC deployees who have failed to provide leadership at Eskom.

The IFP believes that we are sitting on a ticking time-bomb, which will explode in our faces should the KZN Department of Education fail to put proper measures in place to prevent loadshedding during exams. This issue must therefore be treated with kid gloves.

Issued by Thembeni Madlopha Mthethwa, IFP KZN Provincial Spokesperson for Education, 21 October 2022