Hon Speaker, hon President, concerning the Eastern Cape, unfortunately, there is no izwangoma [obedience]. The situation is real. In the Eastern Cape we have a situation in which the MEC is prevented by a union member from visiting the school. We have a situation where teachers are refusing to embark on the programmes aimed at improving the quality of education. This is the situation in the Eastern Cape.
I hear the President saying there are measures that have been taken. I hear the President saying that there is a February agreement, but at the heart of all this there is the old agreement, which is still there, which stipulates that there must be co-governance between the union and the department. The officials of the department are held to ransom by the unions. They can't act to implement the very same measures and directives from the national department. Are we going to sacrifice thousands of lives of the ... [Inaudible.] ... on the altar ... [Inaudible.]