As the Congress of South African Students we would like to take this opportunity to make public its view on the current basic education crisis that has seen some organization call for the removal of the minister responsible for basic education Mrs. Angie Motseaga. We want to place it on record that she is not the only one to blame for the unacceptable situation in Limpopo and the rest of the country by the way.   

In all honesty the future does not look very bright from where we are standing and decisive leadership in needed from those that are charged with the responsibility to rescue the students of south Africa, that is the basis for our call to President Jacob Zuma to kindly relieve the Minister of basic education from her duties immediately.

We are convinced based on past experiences that the minister does not have what it takes to assist the struggle for free, compulsory, relevant education system in South Africa yet the crisis over textbooks in Limpopo and the rest of the country by the way. The minister has historically never been decisive on any issue yet we were not shocked by the media reports on the Limpopo crisis, we are convinced of this because she has failed to do simple things such as explaining the need to continue publishing matric results despite the fact that the publication continues to claim the lives of many young people in South Africa.

We wish to remind our beloved president that eighteen years in to democracy that we as COSAS have fought for lazy ministers who think just because they share a surname with an ANC Chief whip they can be as ignorant as they wish and insult the intelligence of Students of South Africa by saying they are not responsible for delivering textbooks, a reckless statement that actually indicates the lack of understanding of her responsibilities as minister responsible for everything that has to do with basic education.

As we approach the start of Preliminary examinations for grade 12s in particular a minister who is quick to shift blame and expose the fact that she does not know what is happening in her department must be removed if we want to see good results at the end of the year, we urge President Zuma to act with with the same speed as he did in removing a number of ministers that have displayed the same laziness as displayed now by Mrs. Motseaga.

The list of crimes Minister Motseaga has committed against the poor students of South Africa is endless and it cannot be allowed to continue, there is quite a sizeable number of capable cadres deployed by the ANC to parliament that have got much more experience and are far more energetic that Mama Minister Motseaga and the must be called upon to rescue the situation that she has failed to positively respond to.

Statement issued by Bongani Mani, COSAS President, July 30 2012

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