The situation in the John Taolo Gaetsewe District, of learners that have to forsake a whole year of schooling, is totally unacceptable, given the fact that the matter could have been handled differently  by the organizations involved and the government of the Northern Cape.

The matric learners have been deregistered for this year’s final examinations and lower grades have been informed by the Education Department that too much time has been lost and therefore they will not sit for examinations. They will have to repeat the same grades in 2015. The learners are victims of circumstances, because what  led to the closure of schools in the area is a service delivery protest, of which top of the agenda is the construction of a tarred road and unemployment. The mining companies that are operating in the area employ a very large number of people to extract minerals there but a number of the local residents are unemployed. It is clear that there is an influx of people from other parts of the country into the JTG district, bringing much needed labour power to the mines, in particular, skilled labour.

The organization involved, the Kuruman Road Forum and the Kuruman Development Forum perceive the African National Congress as a higher structure and expect it to take the lead in resolving issues affecting the community. The expectation of the ANC provincial leadership getting involved in the resolution of the impasse did not happen, and this strengthened the resolve of the forums to continue keeping schools closed. The reason advanced for the closure of the schools is that the Provincial Government is concerned about the education of the children and would respond positively to the demands to ensure that schooling must continue.   We must also remember that this issue of the road construction has been dragging on since 2012, and now the big argument is around the length of the road. It is alleged that the initial length of the road to be constructed has been reduced to 20 kilometres and the local municipalities are described as corrupt. Hence the decision of the forums to continue fighting to ensure that their demands are met. It turns out that only a contribution of R91 million from the SIOC-CDT Super Trust is available for the construction of the road and nothing from the side of the provincial government and this amount will only cover 20km.

What comes out clearly here is that the ANC-led Government does not have the political will to resolve this issue of service delivery. The JTG area is largely an undeveloped area and is mostly rural. Some of the areas were incorporated into the Northern Cape Province from the North West Province and unemployment, lack of health and educational facilities and other services are day to day problems that must be confronted by residents. The learners are the hardest hit in this situation, and to make the situation worse, there are some schools that were burnt; which means there will be an overcrowding issue to be dealt with. Secondly, the number in Grade R will more or less be doubled as a result of no examinations being written.

The closure of schools is a violation of the democratic right of the learners to education, and sadly, this right is also included in the ANC’s Freedom Charter. Not to mention that it is covered by the constitution of the country. In effect, the learners have lost a whole year of schooling, and the question that comes to mind is what will happen if the demands of the residents are not met? Will the schools be closed indefinitely? It is clear that the learners are the only instrument available to the protesters and for that reason their rights have been violated. Is there no support forthcoming from those that are employed or are they too comfortable in their jobs to participate in the protest? It is very interesting to note that Ministers, representing government and also doubling as ANC leaders have failed dismally to resolve the impasse and this is indicative of a bigger problem, and that is that the ANC has no control over the situation. The service delivery campaign is taking place as an initiative of the people on the ground who are unhappy with the prevailing situation and whose trust has been betrayed by the ANC-led government.

What is surprising is that the stance of the ANC on this matter remains unknown, as the provincial departments are the ones that have been trying to intervene and resolve the situation. The silence of the ANC on this matter is deafening. They do not intervene, in any way, but rather leave everything in the hands of the provincial government. Are they somehow involved with the closure of schools? The shifting of goal posts is the order of the day and what the community would like to know is what happened to the funds that were ring fenced for the road construction.

Our stance is clear. Learners should be in class, studying and the teachers should be assisting them with preparations for the exams every year without fail.