An eight-person delegation from the Equal Education National Council will meet with the education leadership of our government at 4pm on Sunday 23 June. This meeting was initiated by government, and Equal Education has accepted the invitation. We have been assured that the Minister, the Deputy Minister and the MECs for education of all nine provinces will be attending the meeting.
The venue for the meeting is the Southern Sun at OR Tambo in the Khanya 1 room.
Equal Education received the invitation to attend this meeting on Thursday night 20 June. The decision to attend was made at EE’s National Council meeting today, Saturday 22 June.
The invitation indicated that the key issue to be discussed is the “process in relation to the finalisation of the norms”.
The Equal Education delegation is:
- Yoliswa Dwane – Chairperson
- Bayanda Mazwi – Deputy Chairperson
- Brad Brockman – General Secretary
- Doron Isaacs – Deputy General Secretary
- Phathu Manwadu – EE Limpopo
- Mpho Motloung – EE Gauteng
- Mpumezo Mtyaphi – EE Western Cape
- Zackie Achmat – Co-opted to National Council
Equal Education Chairperson Yoliswa Dwane explains:
“The EE National Council has given us a mandate to attend the meeting and to listen. If something is proposed to us we will bring it back for careful consideration. We will not be conducting a negotiation. We intend to explain our campaign for school infrastructure and the urgent need for binding norms and standards, and to clarify the facts relating to Minister Motshekga’s obligations in terms of her settlement agreement with EE, the SA Schools Act and the Constitution.”
“We do not know whether Minister Motshekga intends to apologise for her unfounded and racist attack on EE and its members. She must do so publicly. For us though the campaign to secure binding regulations prescribing norms and standards for school infrastructure remains of paramount importance, and we sincerely hope that this meeting will take that process forward.”
For more information contact:
Kate Wilkinson (Equal Education Media Officer) on 082 326 5353/ kate@equaleducation.org.za
