“Our youth need skills and access to education, and there is a need to turn around the education system. We have to plan it from square one,” said renowned human rights activists and the mother of former president Thabo Mbeki, Epainette Nomaka Mbeki, 96, during a press briefing at Hill Street Manor Guest House on Friday afternoon.
“Our youth need skills and access to education, and there is a need to turn around the education system. We have to plan it from square one,” said renowned human rights activists and the mother of former president Thabo Mbeki, Epainette Nomaka Mbeki, 96, during a press briefing at Hill Street Manor Guest House on Friday afternoon.
MaMbeki, as she is affectionately known, was one of five dignitaries who received honorary doctorates at a Rhodes University graduation ceremony on Friday. “I am very disappointed that the youth are not getting the type of education where people can look up to them. The fact that we have so many unemployed graduates is caused by the type of education that we have,” said the soft-spoken Mbeki.
She said, as a former teacher, she was disappointed at the teacher's union, Sadtu. “Its role is disappointing. They should be the ones who take care of the children. They are only concerned about their salaries,” said Mbeki. During her time as a teacher, said Mbeki, teachers never held strikes. “We never even thought about it. It is unpleasant and uncomfortable for both learners and teachers,” she said.
She said everything in South Africa had changed for the worse. “There is a need for [proper]planning for everything. The public should help [push for]changes in government departments,” she said. In response to questions about criticisms of Thabo Mbeki during his presidency, Epainette said while she did not think her son, Thabo, was a saint, she was not a person who liked to point fingers. “I'm the kind of person who looks at the problem and finds a solution,” she said.
She said Thabo had not been very talkative when he was growing up. “He did not have many friends and was a heavy reader. He read books that were above his age,” she said. Asked how she felt about the great things she had done for the community of iDutywa, Mbeki said it was the people who would judge whether what she had done for them was great or not. “The people I have done those things for should know better. They are the ones who have a better understanding.”
