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President Jacob Zuma has appointed a task team to look into the causes of the delays in delivering textbooks to Limpopo schools and make recommendations.

The President met with the Minister of Basic Education Ms Angie Motshekga and Deputy Minister Enver Surty yesterday, 3 July and agreed on the establishment of the task team and other remedial actions.

The Presidential Task Team on Limpopo Education members are as follows;

Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr Nhlanhla Nene who will chair the team.
Deputy Minister of Basic Education, Mr Enver Surty.
Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr Obed Bapela.
Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mr Yunus Carrim.
Deputy Minister for Public Service and Administration, Ms Ayanda Dlodlo.

As Deputy Minister Nene is currently out of the country until next week, Deputy Minister Bapela will act as Chairperson.

Members of the task team will investigate the causes of the non-delivery and delays to affected schools and make recommendations to prevent a future recurrence. The President has directed that all who are found to have played a role in delaying or stopping the delivery of books should be held accountable and face the consequences.

Yesterday, 3 July, Minister Motshekga briefed President Zuma on the situation relating to the intervention of the National Department in the Department of Education in Limpopo, in terms of Section 100 (1)(b) of the Constitution. The National Government, on 05 December 2011, decided to invoke Section 100(1)(b) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa on the following Limpopo line function departments:

(a) Education;
(b) Roads and Transport;
(c) Health;
(d) Public Works; and
(e) Provincial Treasury

The intervention in Limpopo has been made difficult by the fact that there is currently no national legislation regulating interventions in terms of section 100 of the Constitution. The Department of Cooperative Governance has developed the Monitoring, Support and Intervention Bill to fill this gap and to regulate interventions in terms of section 100 as well as all interventions in terms of section 139.

The President has directed the Presidency and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to prioritise the finalisation of this crucial legislation.

The President also directed that while the legislation is being finalised, a special protocol must be developed to manage relations between the spheres and ensure that service delivery is not affected.

The President also instructed the Ministry to complete the current delivery process, and also to work with the National Treasury and the province to ensure that adequate resources are made available and planning is done for the timeous procurement and delivery of next year’s textbooks in Limpopo.