Sir – It is ironic that while learners have been crossing rivers (right here in Umzinyathi) and walking – in some instances 20 kilometres one way only – for years on end to attend school, that KwaZulu-Natal MEC, Kwazi Mshengu and his Department of Education (DoE) regard the situation as some kind of new revelation.
It also beggars belief that they are only now re-prioritising funding to alleviate this shocking state of affairs.
This is an issue which has been raised on numerous occasions for the past decade by the Democratic Alliance and the big question is: why has nothing been done before?
As far as the ferry boats go, a DA oversight found three of them sitting on dry land at the KZN Sharks Board. This, while learners were still crossing swollen and dangerous rivers.
Of the eight boats procured by the DoE, at a cost of R500 000 each, currently only the whereabouts of these three are known.
According to the DoE, the [ferries] are unusable due to there being nobody within the DoE’s employ who is suitably qualified to drive them and they are also the wrong size.
The DA has already raised this matter at an Education Portfolio Committee meeting and it was agreed that a full report would be forthcoming. In the interim, the DoE’s suggestion that this service exists remains to be proved. At the very least it is hyperbole, at the very worst it is pure fiction.
The KZN Department of Transport is the DoE’s implementing agent for learner transport and the DA’s Spokesperson on Transport, Sharon Hoosen MPL has already made it very clear that the current situation is yet another ‘right royal mess’ and she will be raising it again during a portfolio committee later this week.
The DA remains committed to ensuring a safe learning and teaching environment – one where there is quality education, without interruption. Our oversight work will be sharply focused to ensure this.
Dr Imran Keeka, MPL – DA KZN Spokesperson on Education
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