Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers, the North West province welcomes the notice of the Ministry of Basic Education to invoke section 100 of the Constitution in the department of education in the Eastern Cape province. We also welcome the steps taken by the Ministry to swiftly address the challenges facing the Eastern Cape department of education. This is indeed a clear message that shows that we take delivery of quality services to our people very seriously. We will not allow a season of slack behaviour to gain momentum and destruct the ANC government's agenda to dismantle the legacy of apartheid education in our communities.
The statement by the Deputy Minister sends a clear message to the officials in the Eastern Cape province that the season and the honeymoon of slack behaviour are over. They need to reinvigorate their energies to turn the tide against poor administration, and rededicate their efforts towards creating a conducive environment for the efficient and effective delivery of educational services in the province. The intervention by the Ministry sends a clear message that the purpose of dismantling the apartheid and homeland education system remains bolder and ever more resolute. We shall continue to move with absolute speed and tenacity to dismantle all the obstacles that threaten our education transformation agenda in the Eastern Cape province.
We say this, because, as the ANC, we have made a commitment that says the centenary of our movement must find us in a state where we are truly able to say with absolute certainty that, since democracy dawned on South Africa, we have indeed reached the threshold of prosperity for all in our advance to improve the lives of our people.
As the North West province, we believe that the statement of the Minister of Basic Education is the true expression of this commitment. Most importantly, it clearly articulates the ANC commitment to move with speed in removing all obstacles in our quest to redress the legacy of apartheid education and the systematic neglect of the educational needs of our people.
We know that there are those who, just like the DA, will unashamedly stand before our nation and on this pulpit to seek to mislead our people because of their selfish agenda to create a separate state, when our nation has resolved to dismantle all the artificial boundaries and build a united South Africa. We want to make it clear that there is one country and one government. As the ANC we have an overwhelming mandate from our people to usher in a new dawn of hope and drive an agenda of change and development in our communities. [Time expired.] [Applause.]