The African National Congress (ANC) welcomed the latest developments regarding the crisis at Nduli primary school, where students are forced to travel long distances and attend classes in shifts after the building was declared unsafe.
The ANC acknowledges the steps taken, including discussions by the Western Cape Department of Education with stakeholders, the investigation by the South African Human Rights Commission into alleged human rights violations, and the work of the parliamentary committee on basic education on this issue.
However, the ANC insists that these actions must lead to immediate and tangible solutions for parents, teachers, and affected learners.
Call for Immediate Intervention
Khalid Saeed, the opposition leader in the Western Cape provincial legislature, emphasized the critical importance of the ongoing disruption to learning and urgently demanded immediate intervention.
Saeed addressed the newly appointed Minister of Education, Jacob Londt, calling on him to give a public pledge in Parliament to meet with the Nduli school community and relevant stakeholders as soon as possible, preferably within the next week.
He stressed that resolving the issue requires firm political resolve and active measures, as students should not continue to suffer while ways to rectify the situation are being sought.
Saeed noted that when Minister Londt's department finally acknowledged the building's unsafety and relocated the students, parents were told the matter would be resolved within two months. However, six months have passed without any resolution.
He highlighted that every additional day of disruption undermines the constitutional rights of students to receive safe, accessible, and quality education.
Nduli School was closed in February of this year due to safety concerns, and students were provided transport by bus to neighboring schools after a promise of temporary accommodation for two months. However, six months later, temporary facilities have still not appeared, forcing students to endure academic decline, exhausting daily commutes, and instances of discrimination and abuse in the host schools.
District Councillor Andile Gili and the School Governing Body proposed stopping student transportation to redirect those funds towards building mobile classrooms on local open ground, which would allow students to study in their community. Nevertheless, the Western Cape Department of Education postponed repairs and the request for mobile classrooms following findings by the Auditor-General regarding non-compliance with tender and contractor conditions.
District officials informed the public that they do not have the authority to make decisions and requested until Thursday to consult with higher authorities regarding a solution.