The response by the Western Cape MEC of Education, Donald Grant, to the disturbance of schooling in the Grabouw community is illogical and rather irrational. This collusion that the ANC is the centre of the scuffle between the coloured community and the black community is crass arrogance and a further indication of the shameful and undignified manner in which the, DA led, Provincial Government handles troubles and tribulations affecting, particularly, non white communities within the Province.
Perhaps the scuffle is a perfect sign of the lack of visionary leadership within the Western Cape Provincial Government, and in echoing the statements of the Overberg YCLSA that: “The DA led Western Cape government has systematically discriminated against working class and poor communities, and have dismally failed to provide decent schools and adequate learner support material especially in Grabouw.” One is compelled to point that black and coloured communities, in the Western Cape, are degenerating instead of developing; to add salt to these wounds the Provincial Government is ignorant to the cries made by these communities, of improving their situations, and dismisses them, or rather, reduces them to be cheap politicking by the ANC or its oppositions. As a result of the conflict between the two communities; innocent children are losing out on valuable teaching time, are attending classes in fear and have to contend with learning in substandard buildings. It should be added that the situation is where it is today, due to the consequences of the stalling of the Provincial Government, which has chosen to be, rather, dogmatic; making categorical statements and maintaining that this(Cheap politicking from the ANC), and nothing else is the truth. The actions of the Provincial Government show that whilst on paper they are for everyone, their actions were in total contradiction to this. It must also be noted, however, that by this article, I am in no way suggesting nor am I proposing that an ANC led Provincial Government would have handled the situation any better, but am lambasting the current Provincial Government on their seemingly uncanny manner to resolve on the issue affecting the black and coloured communities. Of a crucial interest at this point is the response and subsequent action that Premier Helen Zille will take to remedy the situation many black and coloured learners find themselves in. To debunk the claims of overcrowding within classrooms, and jumping on the political bandwagon is not going to assist the situation. What learners of Grabouw, now, need, going foward, is a government that will undertake to providing and ensuring a safer environment where all school children will attend the school of their choice without any fear or terror. Perhaps a swift intervention from the Basic Education Ministry is exactly what the situation needs; to prevent the loss of more valuable class time and to also get concerned parties around the table in discussing the future from here. Department of Basic Education needs to strengthen weak areas in the education system across all provinces. Demands for basic living conditions and equal services should never be equated to political strategies or tactics, particularly in communities where Provincial Government is fully aware that they are still a need. It is highly likely that, if left unattended, this situation is likely to escalate to other neighbouring schools in the near future. In the restoration of calm, it is very important that all political parties in the areas concerned, together with citizens, come out and craft a way forward to ensure the creation of safer learning environments for children affected. >From the above it is clear that the need, then, from these two communities to >stand hand in glove and support each other becomes all the more important. >This is also an indication to many that the race question within the Western >Cape is still proving to be a thorny issue, and with the current government at >helm there is still a long way to go before the inequalities left behind by an >apartheid legacy are addressed. Africans and their Coloured counterparts are >going to continue to suffer alone from these inequalities till such a time >when they work hand in hand in ensuring that the democratic voices are not >only heard, but respected too. Let what happened these past two days serve as a lesson to all of us, and may it never be repeated. S.C. Makananda Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you! -----Original Message----- From: VC <[email protected]> Sender: [email protected] Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:50:22 To: <[email protected]> Reply-To: [email protected] Subject: [YCLSA Discussion] FAWU Appeal to Grabouw Community: Exercise Calm * FAWU FAWU **News Release, 20 March 2012* ** ** *FAWU Appealing to Grabouw Community to Exercise Calm* The Food and Allied Workers Union is calling upon the communities of Grabouw to exercise calm and unite around their common goal of pursuing access to quality education and the improvement of overall infrastructure in the Overberg town. We are appalled at the disruption of education and outbreaks of violence as reported in the media and would like to see workers and pupils returning to places of work and schools as soon as possible. While we are aware that there is tension in the town, the eruption of violence we have seen is of no benefit to anyone and we remain deeply concerned over many of our members who are farm workers living in the Grabouw area. We therefore call on the MEC of Education, Donald Grant to immediately intervene to resolve the issue promptly rather than engaging in playing the blame- game. ** ** *Please contact Deputy General Secretary Moleko Phakedi on 082 492 5111 for more information* Food and Allied Workers Union, Vuyisile Mini Center, Cnr NY1 and NY110, Guguletu, 7750 - PO Box 1234 Woodstock, 7915 Reg No LR 2/6/2/1348 Tel 021 637 9040, Fax 086 508 6065, *[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>* -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
<<inline: FAWU.gif>>
