Basic Education Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube is probably still familiarising herself with the workings of the department and trying to find a way of having President Cyril Ramaphosa not sign the Bela (Basic Education Laws Amendment) Bill, which her party, the DA, has strongly opposed.
While she is at it, she may want to park those issues. There is a pressing and disturbing matter that requires her to display leadership.
The first test of her leadership will be how the new minister responds to the racial incidents coming out of some schools, predominantly former Model C institutions.
Our news pages have been filled with reports of black pupils either being barred by their white peers from taking part in a WhatsApp group, a substitute teacher allegedly using the k-word in a history lesson on black consciousness, and even more disturbing is the ‘auctioning’ of black pupils by their coloured counterparts at Pinelands High School.
The action that has been taken thus far, including suspending the pupils involved, should be commendable. Suspending them is not enough, however.
This is a systemic problem that has existed for years, with little to no appetite to tackle it head-on.
Part of the reason for this is because of parties like the DA, coincidentally the organisation Gwarube belongs to.
If one looks at recent history, especially in the Western Cape, the DA sugar-coats this problem. Its belief is that the issue does not exist.
That’s why Gwarube must not only utter words to calm the situation but must demonstrate her commitment to address this issue. The way her department intervenes in these incidents will send a message to schools and their governing bodies that there is a new sheriff in town.
Failure to do so will likely result in her following in the footsteps of her predecessors who did not do much, if anything, to tackle racism at schools.
Parents and the communities that the alleged perpetrators hail from must also take responsibility. It’s inconceivable that children born in free South Africa would be engaged in acts of pre-1994 behaviour without learning it from somewhere else.
Our freedom is meaningless when our children experience what many went through during apartheid. So Minister Gwarube, what’s your move?
Cape Times