Protesters gatecrash Ramaphosa speech

President Cyril Ramaphosa has launched a public-private partnership that will provide innovative, safe ablution facilities at nearly 4 000 mostly rural and township schools, but the event was met with protest.

Protesters from Equal Education quietly stood in front of the stage, holding up placards, while the president was giving his speech.

The Sanitation Appropriate for Education (Safe) initiative is a partnership between government, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the National Education Collaboration Trust, and to which the private sector has been invited to contribute.

In his keynote address at the launch of Safe in Pretoria today, Tuesday, August 14, President Ramaphosa said the initiative was a response to “an urgent human need”.

“We are here to ask you to be part of a bold social initiative to ensure that every school in the country has safe and appropriate sanitation facilities,” the president said.

“This is an initiative that will save lives and restore the dignity of tens of thousands of our nation’s children, as our Constitution demands.

“Safe will spare generations of young South Africans the indignity, discomfort and danger of using pit latrines and other unsafe facilities in our schools.

“Schools should be places where children can be safe, supported, nurtured and empowered.”

South Africa has nearly 4 000 schools that only have pit latrines or other inappropriate sanitation facilities.

Ramaphosa said Safe was a response to an emergency that had claimed the lives of children, such as five-year-old Michael Komape in Limpopo in 2014 and Lumka Mkethwa in the Eastern Cape in March this year.

The president invited international agencies, the private sector and nongovernmental organisations to support the Safe initiative, and called on companies to help construct models of new-technology toilets as a core component of the plan for each school.

Companies are also invited to adopt groups of schools as model schools for joint sanitation-water-energy off-grid solutions.

Ramaphosa said the new initiative was a demonstration of how partners could collaborate in responding to urgent challenges.

Equal Education (EE) demonstrators attended the launch to protest an appeal launched by the president’s lawyers against a high court judgment that obliged the government to provide sanitation to schools, the organisation said.

Today @CyrilRamaphosa launches the states Sanitation Appropriation for Education (SAFE) initiative.

Last Friday his lawyers filed an appeal against a high court judgement that obliged the govt to provide sanitation to schools.

Cynical disingenuousness. #StopTheAppeal

— Equal Education (@equal_education) August 14, 2018

In a tweet, EE said: “Ramaphosa expects with one hand to make glossy [but necessary] announcements of sanitation interventions while quietly with other hand attempts to dodge court judgements which say sanitation is an immediately realisable right.”

@CyrilRamaphosa expects with one hand to make glossy (but necessary) announcements of sanitation interventions while quietly with other hand attempts to dodge court judgements which say sanitation is an immediately realizable right.

We see this #StopTheAppeal & #FixOurSchools

— Equal Education (@equal_education) August 14, 2018

Will @CyrilRamaphosa mention the norms & standards regs which is the law guiding the state’s duties to fix schools? It says pit latrines must be eradicated by 2016 latest. But the state continues to fight to save loopholes in this law in court? #StopTheAppeal @equal_education

— Equal Education Law Centre EELC (@EElawcentre) August 14, 2018

We’ve had enough of the governments disingenuity. We are protesting the #safeschools breakfast inside and outside. #StopTheAppeal pic.twitter.com/OqknHAFOHP

— Equal Education (@equal_education) August 14, 2018

#StopTheAppeal #FixOurSchools #PitToilets #SafeSchools https://t.co/eyR6vz8cDQ

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— Equal Education (@equal_education) August 14, 2018

The eradication of unsafe school sanitation happens through the Norms & Standards for School Infrastructure.

Why is the President allowing DBE and PEDs to constantly challenge & usurp the Norms through time-wasting law suits against @equal_education #UseTheNorms #FixOurSchools

— . (@AmandaRinquest) August 14, 2018

.@CyrilRamaphosa @DBE_SA Why is government rejecting it’s obligation to provide water, electricity & decent toilets to schools by appealing the school infrastructure judgment? THAT is why we protest this disingenuous launch. #StopTheAppeal #PitToilets #FixOurSchools #SafeSchools pic.twitter.com/0oaiODq0Yn

— Equal Education (@equal_education) August 14, 2018

.@CyrilRamaphosa: “We have to implement our plans & pay attention to what we are supposed to do”. So why did government last week file an appeal of Bhisho High Court judgment that says government can’t avoid fixing schools??? #StopTheAppeal #FixOurSchools #PitToilets #SafeSchools pic.twitter.com/tSUA37pmMr

— Equal Education (@equal_education) August 14, 2018

And yet, appealing a High Court judgment which says that government may no longer shirk its duty to immediately #FixOurSchools! #StopTheAppeal #PitToilets #SafeSchools https://t.co/iR97BR0RK9

— Equal Education (@equal_education) August 14, 2018

https://twitter.com/equal_education/status/1029270313677344768

Last week Minister Motshekga and nine MECs – including MEC Panyaza @lesufi – declared it will appeal the #FixTheNorms judgment that set deadlines for them to fix school infrastructure. The irony cannot be overstated. #StopTheAppeal #FixOurSchools #SafeSchools #PitToilets https://t.co/GpAHk5qKdH

— Equal Education (@equal_education) August 14, 2018

EE wrote to @CyrilRamaphosa asking him to not appeal the norms & standards judgement. He ignored us. His govt filed an appeal. This morning he launched the SAFE Initiative at a glossy b/fast. We call nonsense on this. Implement the norms. End the disingenuousness. #StopTheAppeal pic.twitter.com/vKJRtF2pzw

— Equal Education (@equal_education) August 14, 2018

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