Govt incompetence sets new low standard as it robs youngsters of their shot at better education

Once again, a court has had to bring an incompetent, cadre-deployed government department to order for its unconstitutional performance.

The Eastern Cape High Court ordered the provincial department of basic education to ensure that “every learner at every public school” gets the stationery and textbooks they need by the end of March.

This after thousands were left without these basics for the first two months of the current academic year because of an “unprecedented budget shortfall”.

The ruling was the result of an urgent application by the Khula Community Development Project – represented by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) – after broken promises by the department that it would deliver textbooks. This being South Africa, the explanation is obvious.

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If it is not departmental incompetence – and the Eastern Cape provincial administration sets new standards in this regard – then it is corruption.

How else to explain “budget shortfall”? The victims of this appalling “service delivery” are, as always, the poor people at the bottom of the pyramid, whose children are, apparently, not entitled to the same rights as others under Section 29 of the constitution, which guarantees the right to an education.

Saddest of all, this robs youngsters of the opportunity to have a better life…