GOOD Statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Western Cape Member of Parliament
4 November 2024
Extensive resources have been poured into the idea that the Western Cape is better than other provinces, because it is governed by a party that wants to distinguish itself from the rest, but the fact remains that the Western Cape is part of a radically unequal developing nation with critical education needs.
Education is THE critical building block of any developmental state. While the Western Cape’s vision of itself as a first-world hub of innovation, generating its own power and deploying fantastic technology, sounds exciting, without strong societal foundations the vision is unattainable.
The idea of a city of first-world facilities and amenities, for some, peopled mostly by poorly educated “lesser-thans” without homes, income to buy food, or hopes of success, is naïve, unjust and unsustainable.
Last week, Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana’s budget policy statement failed to provide relief for provincial education departments battling to cover the costs of teachers’ salaries.
All provinces are affected, and all provinces are having to dip into coffers they’d prefer to spend elsewhere in order to save their teachers – besides the Western Cape, where 2400 posts are to be scrapped.
Now that Minister Godongwana has spoken, the GOOD Party calls on Western Cape Premier Alan Winde to concede that scrapping teachers when the country is in the grip of a teacher shortage is untenable, and that – like it or not – the Western Cape will shuffle its budget and ring-fence more money for education.
The Western Cape receives enough money from National Treasury, calculated on the basis of the number of children at school, not to have to scrap any teaching posts. But it chooses to spend some of this allocation (known as the equitable share) on other discretionary projects.
The vision of an innovative province, implementing first-world technologies and systems, is appealing to those leading relatively comfortable lives, but we cannot afford to repeat our history and leave the majority of citizens in the cold.
In tough economic times, with sustained low growth, investing in education is not the quickest fix, and won’t create the best spectacle with another election always on the horizon.
What it is, however, is the most fruitful investment that any government can make.
Media enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD: Secretary-General
Cell: 0825183264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Samantha Jackson, GOOD: Media Manager
Cell: 083 5509875
Email: samantha@forgood.org.za