Suspending the head of the education department is likely to bring about improvements at Eastern Cape schools more quickly, says the Legal Resources Centre in Grahamstown.
Suspending the head of the education department is likely to bring about improvements at Eastern Cape schools more quickly, says the Legal Resources Centre in Grahamstown.
Former Head and Superintendent General of the Education Department in the Eastern Cape Mthunywa Ngonzo was suspended last month for his role in an irregular tender process in procuring school furniture. The furniture was being bought in order to comply with a court order.
In a statement to Grocott's Mail this week, Attorney at the LRC Cameron McConnachie wrote, "Procurement of furniture has since been taken over by National Treasury and we welcome this. We think it greatly improves the chances of furniture being procured legally and delivered soon."
The LRC took the Department of Education to court in 2012 for failing to provide more than 600 000 pupils with desks. According to media reports the tender irregularities amount to R60 million.
In an interview with Grocott's Mail this week, provincial spokesperson of the Education Department Malibongwe Mtima said an internal investigation is still under way. He said the findings of the investigation would be made available after a 60-day window period.
Former head of Mpumalanga Education Department Ray Tywakadi is acting head. Tywakadi holds a Masters Degree in Education Planning from the University of Bristol, in the United Kingdom. He is a professional teacher, trained at the University of Cape Town.
The LRC met with Tywakadi in East London on Monday for settlement negotiations in the Linkside Class action.
The case deals with the appointment of teachers to vacant posts and repayments to schools that paid teachers from their own reserves.
The LRC is representing the School Governing Body (SGB) of Linkside High School in Port Elizabeth and the SGBs of 31 other affected schools in the Eastern Cape.
McConnachie said the negotiations were unsuccessful and legal argument is likely to be heard in October. McConnachie said, "We’re hopeful that Tywakadi will be more successful at addressing the many crises facing the department.
"Tywakadi seems to have the backing of the MEC and of Provincial Treasury, and this should allow him to be more effective."
According to the LRC website, the number of teachers involved in the class action currently stands at 150 and they are owed up to R25 million. In January the two parties came to an agreement.
Under the agreement, the Department of Basic Education had to reimburse schools within 30 days of the court order.
