“Sisuzile” and “Sivuzile” became the new names the DA gave to the dilapidated Sizuzile Primary School in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, this week. The official opposition, with its shadows of portfolios in the provincial legislature, was at work in the country’s economic heartland this week, with its education head conducting an oversight visit in Tsakane.
The pupils have not been attending classes because the community has shut it down due to its unsafe state.
DA member of the Gauteng provincial legislature responsible for education Khume Ramulifho and his team was there to see the state of the school.
For almost a month pupils have been prevented from attending school because of unstable floors and broken windows. The brick and mortar they have been promised have not materialised, although tenders were advertised and awarded.
It is becoming a common story of our democratic time that children suffer and risk their lives by just attending school while tenders worth hundreds of millions of rands are a subject of lengthy court cases that end up costing the taxpayer more money, while pupils are still stuck in an unconducive learning environment.
And it is the poorest of the poor who always get the short end of the stick. So, with the 2024 general elections nigh, the stakes are high as the local government elections have demonstrated.
So, out was the shadow MEC to see the situation at Sizuzile, isiZulu for “we have gained” or “we have benefited”.
Ramulifho kept us abreast on his social media platforms, even announcing when he arrived at the school, which was still closed, with parents awaiting his arrival outside the school gates. He later issued a video titled “Khume Ramulifho, shadow MEC for education, Sisuzile Primary School, Oversight Inspection Results”.
Not only did his party rename the school to “Sisuzile” meaning “We Farted Primary School”, but Ramulifho himself gave the school another name. “We came to Sivuzile [meaning “We Leaked”] Primary School in Tsakane just to establish why there has been no learning and teaching for almost a month,” he said with a straight face.
And to show that it is not about doing what is always in the best interest of citizens, especially children, after Ramulifho’s tweeted: “Just arrived in Tsakane. The school is closed, many parents standing outside the school”, Gauteng education spokesperson
Steve Mabona added his R250-million to it (that is after all the going rate for a standard school, isn’t it?).
Mabona said: “Please plead with the parents to open the school because our team has been there without a success. We are aware about the issues there, DID [department of infrastructure development] is finalising a process to build a brick and mortar school.”
At this rate, it is going to be a very long walk to equal education for all.
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