The leader of Build One South Africa (Bosa), Mmusi Maimane, joined the United Unemployed Educators movement to protest against the astounding number of unemployed teachers in the country outside the National Assembly in Cape Town last week.
While addressing a great number of unemployed teachers who were dressed in their graduation gowns and stoles from various higher education institutions, Maimane said an influx of learners into classes had become prevalent. Yet, he charged that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) refused to hire more teachers.
There are over 31 400 vacant teaching posts, revealed DBE Minister Angie Motshekga in Parliament recently.
The Citizen newspaper reported that KwaZulu-Natal was leading the pack with 7 044 unemployed students, followed by the Eastern, and Western Cape with 4 497; Gauteng has 3 898 vacancies, while Northern Cape seats at 726 empty posts.
Maimane said that the country was led by an arrogant government that failed to hire teachers and develop education infrastructure, adding that quintile 1, 2 and 3 schools faced extreme poverty. Learners had to use pit latrine toilets and classes were congested.
“We have an arrogant government; a government that refuses to hear the plight of its people. When the government is arrogant, we have an ‘Angie Verwoerd’ who is no longer interested in education,” said the Bosa leader.
Maimane and the teacher’s movement gave a seven-day notice for Motshekga to respond to the demands of unemployed teachers and that they should immediately be hired. If the minister failed to respond, another picket would take place until teachers’ demands were heard.
“This is an undoing of freedom. Tomorrow, they (government) will stand up and say, all of you are ‘Tintswalo’ because you got your degrees under the new government. But, how can you be an unemployed ‘Tintswalo’?” asked Maimane.
Maimane, who noted he was passionate about education, continued to say Motshekga was striving for unemployment in South Africa. However, education was not about politics, but the future of this nation.
“As Bosa, we say a job in every home. Let it start with educators. We want a fair education for all, let’s begin with employing and paying teachers,” he said.
The Western Cape secretary of the teacher’s movement, Mongikazi Zihlangu, told “SABC News” that the movement previously picketed, but DBE did not respond to their grievances.
“This is what we did on the 7th of March. We went to the Department of Education to hand over our memorandum of demands and then we met the director, Mr Allan Meyer, and we gave him our memorandum. They did not give us any feedback until now. We have been sending them emails, calling them, but they did not respond to us,” said Zihlangu.
The Star