Hon House Chairperson, our hon Minister, Madam Angie Motshekga and all protocols observed, 25 years since the ushering of our democratic dispensation, two days before that special day - the day of the celebration of the internationally celebrated icon, Tata Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela, 23 years since the adoption of the most and ground breaking Constitution which legally entered the basic human rights of all people. We can but only look back with a smile how the ANC-led government turned the tide in adopting and passing the most progressive and life-touching policies and legislations for the advancement of equal and quality basic education.
The Freedom Charter could not have been more relevant when it stated that the doors of learning and of culture shall be opened for all and that there shall be free and compulsory education for all. The heinous and inhumane policies once conceived and implemented by the likes of "Verwoerd-hulle" is a thing of yesterday. Verwoerdian expressions such as: "There is no place for the Bantu in the European community above the level of certain forms of labour. ... What is the use of teaching the Bantu child mathematics when it cannot use it in practice?"
House Chairperson, these are the words of the former Minister of Native Affairs, who later was elevated to be the Prime Minister of the Republic of South Africa between 1958 and 1966. With all this said and done, this mini- plenary must be told that it is one thing for us gathered here to formulate and pass laws at this level, but it's another thing to implement them.
As we all marched towards the promulgated date of our provincial and national elections, all political formations cut across the length and breadth of our country, we promised South Africans heaven and earth based on our election manifestos. Our approach on how we are going to deliver on the basic education to the South African child was not different. Section 29 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa as amended in 1996 provides that everyone has the right to education, including adult education. This is the same Constitution that legislated that all people are equal and thus have equal rights, that including to fundamental education.
Any form of discrimination, be it on the grounds of race, gender, sexual orientation, language - you name it, is
completely prohibited and therefore prosecutable by law. It is against this background that inclusive education becomes a right to every citizen and not a privilege. Having gone through all your election manifestos, I can conclusively say that we are in congruence in as far as the provision of basic education is concerned. Why we should come and differ here, I find it sinister and unacceptable. [Applause.]
Policies underpinning such successful delivery of quality basic education will inter alia reflect the following. The language vis--vis the admission policy, we may come to this House with all forms of negativism, selfish and defence mechanism, yet the truth remains, nothing can substitute the importance and the value of mother tongue in the education of our children. The SA Schools Act will attest to that.
I've heard many people talk about the policy on school safety, but hon Chair, through you to this House, the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, in our engagement with the Minister was never oblivious to the perennial violence and the killings that ravage our schools. We admitted - it is the fact,
but the bottom line is that education remains a societal matter and if we had to defeat that monster we must all join hands and stop criticising one party at the expense of the other. [Applause.].
We agree that the death of one teacher is one too many ... [Time expired.]