Mr Speaker, 31 May 2011 is a very important day in the lives of many parents and learners in the Eastern Cape. On that day, building contractors and service providers will start the work of building schools to replace the infamous mud schools that have been in the news recently.
Although she will pay for this, Minister Angie Motshekga is not responsible for this development, neither is the government of the Eastern Cape, nor the O R Tambo Municipality. It is the concerned, angry and activist parents of children attending the mud schools that have, to their great credit, brought this about.
These parents formed crisis committees for Nomandla, Thembeni, Sibanda, Sompa and three other primary schools in the deep rural Eastern Cape, and brought a case to be heard in the Bisho High Court against the government of the Eastern Cape, the national government and the O R Tambo District Municipality.
It is ironic, as it is shameful, that a municipality that bears the name of Oliver Tambo is a defendant in a case brought by the very poor parents asking for decent education for their children. It is a disgrace that poor parents, thankfully assisted by the Pretoria University Centre for Child Law, had to take the corrupt and bankrupt Eastern Cape government to court to do what it is supposed to do. It is an utter embarrassment that the Department of Basic Education is a defendant in an indefensible court case.
To her very great credit, Minister Angie Motshekga acted honourably by apologising for the situation and providing the funds to fix the problem. This is a powerful illustration of how the law can serve poor and ordinary people by providing justice against the might of an indifferent bureaucracy.
The Eastern Cape department of education is so corrupt that an out-of-court settlement rightly says that the Department of Basic Education will be responsible for appointing the service providers by 31 March for contract implementation to have the work commence on 31 May 2011 and to take reasonable measures to ensure that the seven new schools are built by 1 May 2012.
The ECDE is not off the hook. It has to provide mobile classrooms, water tanks and sufficient chairs and desks for the learners of the seven mud schools by 31 March. I assure this House that my colleagues will be there on 31 March to ensure that the temporary measures are implemented.
I invite Minister Motshekga to join me when I visit the Eastern Cape on 31 May to see whether the construction of the new schools started on time. As for rebuilding the ECDE, I wish Minister Motshekga well. One of her greatest challenges will be to ensure that trade unions play a proper role in education.
One of the constitutional challenges for the Minister is to ensure that her department rebuilds the provincial education department and does not take it over. What is important is for her department to camp out there for a period of time and to leave intact a more powerful and more credible provincial education department. Thank you very much. [Applause.]