The Department of Basic Education’s presentation to Parliament on the ‘Jobs for Cash’ report today was an indication that this report is not being taken seriously in government.

In fact, there are worrying signs that it will be swept under the carpet.

The first sign was that Minister Motshekga was not present to table the report herself. The Minister’s absence is inexplicable given that it is a report of a Ministerial Task Team.

How can Minister Motshekga be absent for the tabling of a report that she personally commissioned?

The only explanation is that she is beginning to distance herself from a report that is damning of the ANC’s alliance partner, SADTU.

ANC MPs in the Committee did their best to ignore the elephant in the room. Instead of acknowledging the role played by SADTU as a whole, they pretended that ‘jobs for cash’ corruption was perpetrated by individuals who just happen to be SADTU members.

The ‘Jobs for Cash’ report is very clear that the corruption cases perpetrated by SADTU members are not isolated incidents. This corruption is the result of SADTU’s capture of the education system in six provinces, where it is able to influence teacher appointments through its infiltration of provincial education departments.

Today’s Committee meeting was an opportunity for the Department to set out its response to key recommendations that seek to prevent SADTU from abusing its power. These include:

• The prohibition of teachers and officials from holding leadership positions in political parties and unions (recommendation 10)
• The establishment of separate unions for teachers, on the one hand, and education officials, on the other (recommendation 11)
• The prohibition of cadre deployment from unions into education departments (recommendation 12)

Unfortunately, we received no clear answer from the Department on its position on these recommendations. It was therefore impossible to get a clear sense of what the process will be going forward.

We need decisive leadership to break SADTU’s stranglehold on our education system. But all we got from the Department of Basic Education today was vagueness and obfuscation.

The hollow words from the Director-General, as well as the absence of Minister Motshekga from today’s meeting, are worrying signs that the Department is getting ready to sweep the report under the carpet.

The DA will continue to hold SADTU accountable for its role in the deterioration of our education system in disadvantaged communities. And we will do everything in our power to ensure that Minister Motshekga finishes what she started.

 

Issued by DA