The Democratic Alliance completely rejects the attempts from the
Northern Cape Department of Education to racialize its untenable
interference with the Northern Cape High School learner enrollment
process.

We are now living in a non-racial democracy, not in a racially driven
state of apartheid.

The fact of the matter is that parents exercised their democratic
rights, with due regard to the procedures put in place by the
department. The department has now tried to hijack the learner
enrollment process and wants to bulldoze through the school governing
body.

Its attempts to use race as a justification falls very flat. Before
the department makes such reckless statements, it needs to study the
applicable laws first. Section 5 of the South African Schools Act
makes it very clear that the admission policy of a public school is a
matter that should be left to the school governing body. The
department cannot use race as a motivation to interfere with the
admissions when the admission policy of the school and the school
itself upholds the democratic values of South Africa.

Learners from all communities should be given an equal opportunity to
access education, but the department is attempting to prevent this.

We need the department to stop being distracted by its own sideshows
and to start focusing on delivering quality education to all learners
in the province.

 

Issued by DA Northern Cape