28 May 2020

The South African Communist Party (SACP) in the Eastern Cape Province has noted the strides led by the Provincial Government in the fight against the coronavirus. We need more efforts to sustain the good fight to curb the spread of the pandemic.

We have noted reports by the Department of Education on the state of readiness for the reopening of schools, and the preventive measures put in place thereof. As the SACP, we are of the considered view that the Provincial Government must delay the reopening of schools by another two weeks as to ensure that all safety measures are in place in our schools throughout the province. This is informed by the reports we have received from our structures in many of our districts, that have reported none availability of PPEs in many schools.

We are not surprise by this given the vastness of the province and enormity and sensitivity of the task at hand. There is no need for a rush as any speed under the conditions can lead to a crash with devastating consequences. It is in this context that as the SACP, we support the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) decision in relation to the reopening of schools. We support the position of SADTU for both educators and leaners should be allowed to return to school when it is safe to do so.

We also call for an open day that should allow education stakeholders to visit schools to ascertain the state of readiness. We should avoid to adopt a one size fit all approach as our provinces are not the same in many respects. And we equally note that some responses are talking to the children of the elite than children of the working class. For example, "if a child does not have a mask he or she will be turned away at the school gate to fetch it", surely this is not talking to children who use scholar transport and at worst walk long distances to school.

We urge our government to reconsider the decision to reopen schools on 1 June 2020 as we believe such a decision will be in the deepest interest of the people of the province as whole.

Issued by the SACP Eastern Cape.

Contact:

Siyabonga Mdodi
SACP Provincial Spokesperson
Mobile: 0833588070
Email: simdodi@gmail.com
Facebook: SACP Eastern Cape