Equal Education slams Gwarube over claim that 90% of schools now in a better condition
Basic education minister, Siviwe Gwarube. (Lefty Shivambu/Gallo)
Civil society movement Equal Education accused Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube of failing to understand the reality of public schools after she said last week that 90% of them are now in a better condition, according to her department's latest infrastructure assessments.
Gwarube's comments were not true, with some classrooms not having been renovated since 2008, said Equal Education's spokesperson, Ayanda Sishi Wigzell.
'I think the minister needs to visit more schools across the country. The infrastructure many children are exposed to is not safe at all.'
Gwarube told parliament that all mud and asbestos schools have been eradicated, marking what she called a 'major milestone in creating safer learning environments'.
But the minister said there was still an infrastructure backlog requiring about R129 billion, for the eradication of unsafe pit latrines, the replacement of dilapidated structures and provision of essential services such as water and electricity.
'Over 8 222 schools still require additional classrooms, and meeting that need would cost approximately R32 billion. While we're working closely with the provinces to find solutions, this remains a critical area of focus,' said Gwarube.
South Africa's public education system comprises 22 529 schools, according to the department of basic education. Recent data showed that the condition of 390 schools was categorised as 'very poor', 1 850 were identified as 'poor' and 53% of all schools were marked as 'good'.
The Eastern Cape has the highest number of schools in the 'poor' and 'very poor' categories, totalling 1 090. In contrast, the Western Cape stands out with no schools in these categories. The province has the highest percentage of schools in 'good' and 'excellent' condition.
Gwarube said 35 585 schools still required additional toilets to accommodate rising enrolment numbers, which would cost an estimated R14 billion.
According to the department, 93% of the 3 372 identified pit latrines at schools have been replaced with appropriate sanitation facilities.
The Sanitation Appropriate for Education initiative, introduced in 2018, targeted the elimination of unsafe pit toilets, but delays in its implementation have resulted in the death of children, the most recent being three-year-old Unecebo Mboteni, who fell into one such pit at a daycare centre in the Eastern Cape in 2023.
Equal Education, which has been advocating for the
'Pit latrines in schools do not inherently equal education; in fact, they pose significant barriers to a quality and equitable learning environment. The presence of pit latrines, particularly plain pit latrines, creates numerous problems that negatively impact student well-being and educational outcomes,' Wigzell said.
In May last year, new regulations were gazetted which stipulated that schools lacking basic services such as water, electricity, or sanitation must comply within 18 months. Schools constructed with unsuitable materials were given a 12-month compliance window.
'We cannot have learners in danger of drowning in pit toilets or learning in inappropriate structures, 30 years into our democracy,' Gwarube said.
According to a response by the minister to questions in parliament last November, 405 schools in the Eastern Cape were still using pit latrines, 170 in KwaZulu-Natal, 40 in Mpumalanga and 37 in Limpopo.
The department launched an app in partnership with Vodacom, which allows users to report unsafe toilets in schools, monitor progress on their removal and provide real-time feedback on infrastructure improvements.
'Far too many learners still face daily risks to their health and safety because of inadequate school infrastructure,' Gwarube conceded.
According to the National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa, provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape face significant hurdles because of high infrastructure needs and budgetary constraints.
'These provinces host some of the most rural and under-resourced communities in the country, where schools often lack basic infrastructure like safe sanitation, reliable electricity, and adequate classroom space,' said the organisation's spokesperson, Basil Manuel.
Parliament's portfolio committee on basic education said in February that 80% of the KwaZulu-Natal department of education's budget had been allocated to
The department has introduced a 10-point strategy aimed at enhancing infrastructure planning, delivery, maintenance and monitoring at the provincial level.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mail & Guardian
6 hours ago
- Mail & Guardian
Maimane: ‘Whether you and I accept it or not our relations with the US are crucial'
Build One South Africa leader Mmusi Maimane. (David Harrison) South Africa must strategically reset its diplomatic and economic approach by diversifying its global partnerships while maintaining its critical relationship with the United States, political leaders and academics said at a forum this week. 'Many people ask: why would 'We are net He noted numerous defiant posts on social media platform X that 'the US can go jump' — a response to the fractious relationship between the two countries mainly over what the Trump administration says is the persecution of white South Africans. Maimane cautioned: 'I would argue the fact that before you become so bold about that statement, be conscious about the extent of job losses that a US exit would mean for South Africa.' He said relations with South Africa had not been top of mind for many US legislators over the past decade. 'So the culmination of President Trump is not an accident, it is a function of the fact that I believe as a government we neglected our relations with the US with almost the underlying mantra that to be anti-west is to be progressive. That thesis itself has translated in a number of key actions that have meant in some ways our relationship with the USA has suffered.' Maimane noted that South Africa did not have an ambassador to the US when President Cyril Ramaphosa met Trump in Washington DC last month. '[South Africa] still does not have an ambassador to the US and ultimately our trade envoy who was recently appointed was not in the room,' he said. 'But perhaps maybe, as Africa, we need neither look West nor East. We need to look forward and therefore we need to begin to reset. And this is where I stand with President Ramaphosa on our relations with the US. To achieve that, a number of critical steps need to be taken. We need to reset our diplomatic outlook.' Maimane said Africa's 1.4 billion citizens and mineral wealth would drive the global transition into a greener economy. 'Without a shadow of a doubt Africa will be what the next decade will be defined by and if South Africa begins to think of itself in the context of the continent at large we can then begin to argue a better case about how we engage both the US and China,' he said. He proposed that Brics should include more African states. 'The first reset of South Africa in its diplomatic focus must be the reset of its relation to the rest of the continent. We have an opportunity to benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area,' he said. 'The second is that in our trade relations with our US and our global partners, we need to ask the question: how do we develop a fund that is inherently looking at how we improve on capital fund formation in the continent, in South Africa.' Maimane added that discussions often focus on GDP and debt but not on foreign direct investment. 'If we put that at the forefront we begin to put forward positions that hold us as Africans to say 'this is a future of investment'. Africa still has a net positive birth rate. Africa is where your next set of labour, your next set of skills, your next set of minerals will come from, and more crucially, it's a continent that can fast-track industrialisation,' he said. David Monyae, an associate professor at the University of Johannesburg, argued that South Africa should not expend its energy on criticising or trying to understand Trump and the US. 'We know what they stand for, and we should waste no time trying to understand, there's nothing to understand. There is nothing that South Africa can do. We can send the best of the best brains. We can develop views of countering and reset or terms that we put. We're just wasting our time,' he said. 'Their foreign policy and ours are worlds apart. It is anti-diversity. It is anti all we stand for in foreign policy. I'm not saying we should abandon the United States. The United States remains the most important country in the world, a number one trading partner in so many areas of our goods getting into the United States. We have a rich history with the African diaspora, even in the anti-apartheid struggle. 'We cannot convince them to abandon their own view on us, but what we can do is to craft ours and adjust it to ensure we lessen the dependence on key areas. We need to find alternative trade,' he said. Monyae recommended that South Africa explore new markets such as Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Latin America and others, while still holding discussions with the US and China. This required technical skills, negotiation, understanding and unity so that regardless of which political party a leader belonged to, they should 'speak with one voice' on the global stage, he said. 'We cannot continue to be bogged down in slogans, singing, kill this and kill that [a reference to the debate regarding the controversial 'We must ensure the youth understand the fourth industrial revolution, understand Starlink and there are so many other satellite-based communication systems. How can we engage them for development, also understanding the security risk that goes with this? Satellite internet company Citing the war in Ukraine, Monyae said such satellite-based systems were not just used for communication. 'We saw what's happening in the Ukraine War, that they're not just communication. They communicate with weapons. They are used to undermine sovereignty. They are used to undermine and advance agendas other than our own. What kind of policies are we putting in place to protect our digital sovereignty?' he said. Zamokuhle Mbandlwa, a professor at the Durban University of Technology's department of public management and economics, said South Africa could not afford a bad relationship with the US, noting that the latter's withdrawal of financial support was affecting patients in the health sector who could not get treatment. 'A lot of people will suffer if we don't mend our relationship between us and the US,' Mbandlwa said. The acting director of the Centre for Security, Peace and Conflict Resolution at Nelson Mandela University, Professor Ntsikelelo Breakfast, said South Africa tended to punch above its weight. 'I think the straw that broke the camel's back between us and [the US] was the grievance that we instituted against Israel,' he said, referring to South Africa's 'I do appreciate the fact that what is happening between Hamas and Israel is a violation of human rights,' Breakfast said, but added: 'If we had done that in good faith, then the question that begs is, why do we apply double standards? There is a conflict which is under way between Russia and Ukraine. We say we are neutral but [not] with regard to the conflict between Hamas and Israel. 'What is happening in the Gaza Strip is out of line, it is a violation but the point I'm making is that if, if you've got a principle and you stand by that, then you've got to apply it across the board, you can't chop and change and say, in this case, no, you're neutral.' He called for broader economic strategies and the diversification of the country's export partners to grow its market share in Africa and in countries like Russia, China, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates.
IOL News
7 hours ago
- IOL News
Xi Jinping, Sassou send congratulatory letters to FOCAC ministerial meeting of coordinators
A floral decoration at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing, China. Image: VCG Chinese President Xi Jinping and President of the Republic of the Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso sent congratulatory letters separately to the Ministerial Meeting of Coordinators on the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, on Wednesday. Noting that the current international situation is marked by changes and turmoil, Xi said China is committed to providing new opportunities for the world with the new achievements of Chinese modernization and offering new impetus to the Global South partners, including Africa, with its huge market. China is ready to negotiate and sign the agreement of the China-Africa Economic Partnership for Shared Development to implement the zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent of tariff lines for 53 African countries having diplomatic relations with China, Xi said, adding that China will provide more convenience for the least developed countries in Africa to export to China. He said China is ready to work with Africa to deepen the implementation of the 10 partnership actions for modernization, strengthen cooperation in such key areas as green industry, e-commerce and e-payment, science and technology, and artificial intelligence, and enhance cooperation in security, finance and the rule of law to promote high-quality development of China-Africa cooperation. Xi pointed out that openness and cooperation are the right path, and mutual benefit and win-win outcomes meet the aspiration of the people. He said China and Africa working together to advance modernization will strongly promote solidarity and cooperation in the Global South and open up a brighter prospect for the cause of world peace and development. It is hoped that China and Africa will continue to steadily advance the implementation of the Beijing Summit's outcomes, carefully plan the future development of the FOCAC, join hands to build an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era and contribute to building a community with a shared future for humanity, said Xi. Sassou Nguesso said in his letter that strategic and practical cooperation between Africa and China has achieved fruitful results since the Beijing Summit. Noting that the ministerial meeting coincides with the 25th anniversary of the FOCAC's establishment, Sassou Nguesso said he will spare no effort and work with President Xi to promote greater progress in building a community with a shared future between Africa and China and enhance the well-being of the people on both sides. As the African co-chair of the FOCAC, the Republic of the Congo is willing to work with China and other countries in the Global South to strengthen cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative, jointly build a multipolar world free from unilateralism and protectionism, and usher in a new era of inclusive and mutually beneficial globalization, Sassou Nguesso added.
The Herald
7 hours ago
- The Herald
'It's phenomenal': Ramaphosa hails teacher assistant jobs for helping millions of young people
President Cyril Ramaphosa has praised the basic education department's teacher assistant programme, saying it has been successful in providing millions of unemployed South Africans with job opportunities. The six-month Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI) — Basic Education Employment Initiative offers 200,000 unemployed young people between the ages of 18 and 34 the opportunity to be employed as education assistants and general school assistants in state schools. Phase V started in June, and successful candidates will receive a monthly stipend of R4,000 and an additional R30 for data. Briefing the media on Tuesday, Ramaphosa described the programme as 'phenomenal'. 'It is an overarching programme that covers almost all our 25,000 schools. I'm pleased that the basic education department has taken it on, working with the Presidency through the PYEI, and the labour and employment department has also assisted with the funds.' He said he wants the programme to be strengthened, adding it prepares young people for the formal job sector. 'It is proving to be beneficial in many ways. First, to the young people we bring in — young people who have not had jobs. So we bring them into formal job situations. They come into a formalised institution and they learn a lot. They gain a lot of knowledge, discipline, management skills and people skills to be able to interact with difficult young people, and they are excelling. 'This is usually empowering for these young people and we've had more than two million of them.' South Africa's unemployment rate has increased to 32.9%, with youth unemployment rising to 46.1%, leaving millions of young people out of work. Ramaphosa said while he would like the programme to be longer, insufficient resources make it difficult. Despite this, he said the programme is becoming influential globally. 'This is becoming a world-renowned programme. Many other countries are looking at what we are doing here and some of them are going to copy what we are doing, so we are trailblazers in many ways. This is one programme where there hasn't been corruption; it's been flawless and well executed.' TimesLIVE
