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It beggars belief that the Department of Basic Education could not even do the basic arithmetic needed to calculate the matric exemption rate.

The minister announced in her speech on Thursday that 32 percent of matriculants qualified for higher education institutions. In fact, just 19.8% did.

This is a scandalous error. Cabinet ministers in other countries have been sacked for far less.

We have an education system in crisis in South Africa, and it is now exemplified by a Department of Basic Education that cannot do basic arithmetic - and a minister who is clearly completely out of touch with the goings on in her department. It is frankly staggering that the minister has spent the last 48 hours blaming everyone but the ANC administration for another year of disgraceful matric results, when evidence abounds of the basic education department's utter incompetence in the performance of even routine tasks.

In the space of six months, Minister Motshekga appears to have done little but buy herself R1.7-million of luxury BMWs and Range Rovers. In late December it emerged that she had reneged on her earlier pledge to deliver 30 million workbooks for pupils in grades 1 to 6 for the 2010 school year, as part of curriculum changes. The minister's spokesperson described the tender process as "flawed" and "rushed", but this was only because the department insufficiently advertised the R522-million tender earlier in the year. The litany of failings under Minister Motshekga's tenure to this point make it quite clear that the ANC government is neither willing nor able to take the kind of action needed to tackle the real problems in our public education system.