by: Honorouble Joe Mpisi

sitting on the 7th August 2018

The motion tabled before us touches on a variety of issues, which are indeed issues that we as the ANC government are also concerned about. I will not go through all these issues as I believe we are all familiar with the details of the motion.

First and foremost, this debate takes place during women’s month, and at a time when women are crying out for us as society to value their lives and treat them as humans instead of treating them as secondary citizens of this country.

We debate this motion at a time when we are losing women and children to gender based violence, we debate this motion at a time when our children are not safe in their own communities and in classrooms, we are debating at a time where we see violence spilling over to even our schools and we are debating at a time where women from all walks of life are saying enough is enough.

In this year of Tata Nelson Mandela and Mama Albertina Sisulu, it is within this context that I request you Madame Speaker to allow me to anchor my debate today on a holistic approach to security in school, with a particular focus on gender issues.

I would like to bring to the attention of this house to the fact that education is one of the key priority areas of the ANC government. This is supported by clause number eight of the Freedom Charter that says,

“The Doors Of Learning And Of Culture Shall Be Opened, where in relation to education it is explicitly stated that, and I quote “Education shall be free, compulsory, universal and equal for all children.”

This clause came about as a result of us understanding that access to education is central to the development of our nation. I must indicate and emphasize that the safety of the leaners and teachers in schools is a priority to the ANC government.

 

When we talk about access Madame Speaker, it is important to acknowledge that it should be facilitated by a number of things, for it is pointless to open doors of learning when at the same time those very doors cannot be entered by leaners due to fear for their safety in schools.

Madame Speaker I quote the Freedom Charter in an attempt to ensure that we are all aware of the context of the department of education policies and particularly the context of the debate of this motion.

While the motion raises pertinent issues, I am disappointed that it seems to be more concerned and focused on school infrastructure, rather than the learners, teachers and all other workers in schools.  

 

I agree fully that the Department of Education has indeed invested a lot of resources in schools, however, taking into account the National School Safety Framework report released by the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention in 2016 indicating that globally, about 246 million girls and boys are harassed and abused annually in and around schools, we should not lose sight of the fact that an approach to addressing safety in schools should be holistic and inclusive of the human side of education.

 

Madame Speaker the motion indicates that communities are not taking full ownership of schools. I believe we should acknowledge the fact that the South African Schools Act makes provisions for the existence of School Governing Bodies (SGBs) and directs them on what they must do, which includes among other things encouraging parents, learners, educators and other staff members at the school, to offer voluntary services to the school. This is to encourage communities to fully participate in their schools’ activities while also taking ownership of their schools.

In this context, I am not convinced that as this House we should entirely put the responsibilities of the SGB on the shoulders of the MEC and as such, I think SGBs should be encouraged to be more effective in performing their duties and play a lead role in rallying communities to support and take ownership of their schools.

In this regard, we must therefore call upon the MEC to ensure that the training of SGB’s is systematically enhanced to ensure that we equip Parents, Learners, Educators and other support staff with the necessary capacity and gear them to play the role expected of them.  

 

The issues that are raised in this motion have been dealt with extensively in our committee meetings and the reports of the department are indeed indicating of their acknowledgement of the current challenges. Ours is to ensure that the department is supported in implementing measures that will see all schools being a safe learning and teaching environment.

Madame Speaker, the motion further calls for the reviewing of the school safety strategy in order to properly align it to the fight against criminals who are targeting schools. I am more confused on what this really means, as the motion does not detail what this reviewing entails. I am therefore left with more questions than answers. In my view the motions falls short of making recommendations on what it is that the school safety strategy must include for it to assist in the fight against criminals. As a result it is open to many interpretation.

I should however, indicate that, while as the ANC government support calls for safe learning environment and while we will do everything in our power to protect our learning environments, we do not support militarisation of our schools.

Safety in schools Madame Speaker is important in many ways, including that majority of poor citizens of this country send their children to school to get education with the hope that they will be educated and bring about change in their homes, communities, the country and the world at large.  

 

We can therefore, never rest until every learner, every teacher and all school infrastructure that facilitates the realisation of this dream is safe from thugs and all criminal elements.

We will continue to ensure that our school environment is safe for the learners, particularly our female leaners to attain their goals and reach their full potential having the necessary equipment to do so and free from any harm.  

 

Education is so central to the ANC government so much that even our stalwart Tata Nelson Rholihlahla Mandela believed in it when he said:

 

“Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another”

For this reason we recommend and urge the department to look into improving security in schools by improving the lighting, installing detectors and ensuring that school patrollers are properly trained to be able to perform their duties effectively.

 

In closing Madame Speaker allow me to urge the people of Gauteng to rally behind the freedom of women and the call to end patriarchy, and gender based violence, which are shamelessly destroying our society and are undermining the strides we have made in this country in the emancipation of women.

There is no better expression than the words of Mama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela when faced with the difficulties of the Apartheid regime in expressing what women are saying to us today and I quote, “There is no longer anything I can fear. There is nothing the government has not done to me. There isn’t any pain I haven’t known.”