Bhisho Education MEC summoned before portfolio committee

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

Eastern Cape Education, Mandla Makupula, has been summoned to appear before the portfolio committee on Friday to give account of several issues plaguing Eastern Cape education.

Portfolio committee chairperson, Mzoleli Mrara, says he also turned down a request from the MEC for a postponement as he is currently on an Outreach Programme with premier, Noxolo Kiviet.

Mrara says some of the issues that the committee wants Makupula to give account on relate to scholar transport, temporary teachers and the reinstatement of suspended officials.

"We heard that there's a problem with scholar transport programme not finishing the entire financial yea. We want to get a report from them because we budgeted for scholar transport for the entire period. We getting information that there seem to be challenges," he said.

Mrara says the second issue relates to the appointment of temporary teachers. "We are waiting for a report from them as to how far they have gone in relation to this matter. We hear that unions are still picketing in some districts demanding the appointment of these teachers. We want a report from them as to what is happening about these temporary teachers," he added.

The third aspect, said Mrara, is around the reinstatement of suspended officials in the Bhisho Education Department.

He says the committee heard in mid-June that the Department had reinstated all officials who had been suspended by former superintendent-general, Modidima Mannya, who quit earlier this years.

Mrara says the portfolio committee is very concerned about the situation.

"We don't want to assume, we want them to come and table a report so that we deal with that report because this matter has the potential of compromising all of us because we made a commitment to fight against corruption and if there's any reinstatement of any official who is implicated we deserve an explanation," he added.

Mrara says the committee also wants the Bhisho Education Department to give account of their state of preparedness with respect to learner support material for schools for next year and the Department's planning on various issues "so that we are not taken by surprise towards the end of next year."

He says they also want to get a quarterly report from the Bhisho Education Department which should show their pace of delivery to schools.

Mrara says the issue of ongoing litigation is another concern for the Eastern Cape education portfolio committee.

"We told them in April that we very much concerned about everybody being eager to take the Department to court. We have requested that they provide us with all the cases from last year so that we can deal with these matters," he said.

Meanwhile the Democratic Alliance says its clear that a situation similar to Limpopo is now developing in the Eastern Cape.

DA MPL, Edmund van Vuuren says the vast majority of schools that they contacted are experiencing massive shortages of workbooks.

He says their monitoring of the PE district warehouse shows that no additional books have arrived in the province since last week and that only 569 additional boxes of books were sent to address the shortage of workbooks by the National Department.

Van Vuuren says schools will now get books on a first-come-first-serve basis which will lead to chaos again because the orders that schools placed earlier this year are being ignored.