Parliament, Thursday, 20 September 2018 â€“ National Council of Provinces (NCOP) delegates together with members of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature yesterday conducted oversight visits to schools and police stations in the Tshwane Metropolitan area, in an effort to get better understating of the impact of migration on the delivery of education and policing services in the province of Gauteng.

Led by the NCOP House Chairperson for International Relations, Ms Masefako Dikgale, and Gauteng MPL, Ms Pinkie Mncube, the delegation started its engagements at Dr Sam Motsuenyane Comprehensive School, in Winterveld, where the principal and management raised the same challenges that were discovered by the NCOP in 2013 during the Taking Parliament to the programme.

The school which was built by the former Bophuthatswana homeland is located in a swampy ground and it floods in rainy weather, making access impossible for both learners and teachers. There are also reeds growing in the school yard which is said to attract snakes to the school premises.

Delegates were not happy that most of the commitments made in 2013 by government were not honoured, and resolved to engage the MEC for Education in Gauteng to intervene and find a solution for the school.

The school also has undocumented learners from neighbouring countries who are struggling with school work because they cannot cope with the home languages offered at the school. Undocumented parents of the foreign learners reportedly do not attend parents’ meetings and other school activities because they think it is a ploy by government to catch them and deport them back to their home countries.

During a visit to Philadelfia Secondary School for learners with disabilities, the delegates heard about shortage of braille textbooks, sign language teachers as well as assistants for learners who required special care.

NCOP delegates made a commitment to contact relevant government ministers for intervention to ensure the smooth running of the school for learners with special needs.

The last site to be visited on the second day of the NCOP preliminary visits, was the Mabopane Police Station.

Station management told the NCOP about their difficulty in dealing with criminal cases involving foreign nationals due to language barriers and non-permanent addresses.

Foreign nationals operating businesses in the area were easy targets for criminals because they often slept in the shops and kept their money in the premises. The police also reported that during raids in foreign shops they discovered expired products, some with expiry dates dating as far back as 2011.

ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE HOUSE CHAIRPERSON FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS IN THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES, MS MASEFAKO DIKGALE 

For media inquiries or interviews with Ms Dikgale contact:
Masego Dlula
Cell: 081 715 9398
Email: mdlula@parliament.gov.za