Parliament, Tuesday, 16 May 2017 – Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Basic Education today had an engagement with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on the “Report on the National Investigative Hearing into the Impact of Protest Related Action on the Right to a Basic Education in South Africa”. The Committee felt that the recommendations were directed at the wrong department for implementation.
This meeting follows the national investigative hearings held by the SAHRC after the Vuwani protest in Limpopo, where learners in the area were prevented from attending school after the community protested about the demarcation of this area into another local municipality. Schools were vandalised and burnt down as part of the protest.
Committee Chairperson Ms Nomalungelo Gina questioned whether the recommendations were directed at the correct Department in terms of implementation. “The Department is just a victim. The learners, the officials, the schools and the infrastructure are the victims. The protest does not stem from the education system. These are service delivery protest and not because of the education system.”
The Committee was referring to the recommendation that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) must play the lead role in pulling together other central role-players, such as the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the South African Police Services, to set up a National Response Team for such matters.
Basic Education Minister Ms Angie Motshekga said in the meeting that only the President can set up an inter-ministerial commission. She does not have the powers to give orders to her colleagues. Minister Motshekga said she is prepared to take the report to Cabinet where other ministers can give their input. She also highlighted that the protest does not stem from education. With just “the slightest provocation, they use basic education as a soft target”, she said.
Ms Gina said the DBE cannot implement the recommendations as they refer to the mandates of other departments, such as the safety measures taken by the SAPS. Ms Gina agreed that the report should find its way to Cabinet, the Minister in the Presidency and the President.
The SAHRC indicated that it does not have any difficulty with another government department implementing the recommendations. “…we just want to find a long-lasting solution to the matter,” said Commissioner Andre Gaum.
ISSUED BY PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON BASIC EDUCATION, MS NOMALUNGELO GINA
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