Jobs for Cash: We will not be deterred from holding SADTU to account

2 September 2016

The Department of Basic Education today launched an unwarranted attack on the DA, merely for requesting that the Minster table the ‘Jobs for Cash’ report in Parliament.

The final ‘Jobs for Cash’ report was released on 18 May but the Minister has not tabled it in Parliament, as she is obliged to do. This is why we wrote to Minister Motshekga earlier this week requesting her to table the report.

The Department’s hysterical response to our simple request is rather strange. If the Minister is planning to table the report in Parliament, why not just say so without the histrionics?

The inescapable impression is that Minister Motshekga is not planning to formally table the report, as she is required to do. 

According to the National Assembly Guide to Procedure: 

Section 92(3)(b) of the Constitution requires members of the Cabinet to provide Parliament with full and regular reports concerning matters under their control. Papers aimed at complying with this requirement are those papers which are considered by the Government to be of interest to Parliament but whose presentation is not necessarily required by statute.

The formal tabling process is crucial because it will ensure proper parliamentary oversight over its findings and recommendations. Once the report is tabled, the Speaker will refer it to the Basic Education Committee for the committee to consider. The Committee will then produce its own report containing its response to the findings and recommendations, which will then be referred to the House for a final decision.

If Minister Motshekga is planning to table the report in Parliament, she should just say so and tell us when she plans to do it. If she is not planning to formally table the report, she needs to explain why she is circumventing this constitutional requirement. 

SADTU needs to be held to account for its role in the ‘Jobs for Cash’ scandal, and Parliament needs to play its part in ensuring this. We cannot leave this up to a Minister whose party is in an alliance with SADTU.

We look forward to receiving the Minister’s response to our request for the ‘Jobs for Cash’ report to be formally tabled in Parliament. We will certainly not be deterred from pushing for accountability on this important matter concerning our education system.

Issued by Gavin Davis, DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education, 2 September 2016