Q: What is the national department’s position on the suspension of Eastern Cape education boss Mthunya Ngonzo?
A: Through the national intervention, Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga and Eastern Cape MEC Mandla Makupula have a joint responsibility.
The minister and MEC are consulting each other on this. The difficulty is that the person who’s being consulted, is the minister and not myself.
The intervention framework accords the responsibility to the minister, not to the DG, because that department would have its own accounting authority. The responsibility of executive authority is shared between the minister and the MEC.
The two executive authorities are working together and consult on the decisions made every step of the way. For instance, when the suspension of Ngonzo was carried out, the MEC consulted the minister.
Q: In terms of the intervention, are there officials from DBE in the Eastern Cape?
A: At the moment, we have no people stationed in the Eastern Cape. The department’s official has been assigned and visits now and then.
Q: What is her role?
A: She is coordinating programmes of the Eastern Cape and keeping the minister in the loop. She’s doing that working with Eastern Cape acting head of department Ray Tywakadi and a person seconded by Treasury’s Siza Netshilaphala. We’ve got work streams. Pupil teacher support material is one of the streams, as well as infrastructure and human resource provision.
Q: Unions and opposition parties say things have not improved. What is causing these challenges?
A: There have been improvements. In the past two or three years, we didn’t have the declaration of teaching posts. The posts have been declared – it’s just that the unions don’t agree because posts have been reduced.
The issue of temporary teachers has been resolved. In the past, schools used to appoint temporary teachers, as well as teachers from the coffers of school governing bodies. The department is doing that now.
The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces leading in terms of the procurement of textbooks.
On the agenda now, is the procurement to top up books. The school feeding scheme has also been sorted out.
Q: Is there a plan to make Grade R teachers permanent?
A: This matter was discussed in our forum for the heads of department chaired by myself as the DG and the level of council of education matters.
Some provinces have moved where they have been able to absorb, but others have indicated they have salary bill pressures and would not be able to absorb all of them at once.
I think even in the Eastern Cape, you will find some of them have been absorbed. It may be that there is no money to pay them. If there’s no money to pay them, there’s no reason to absorb because they need to enjoy the same services and benefits.