Today, 12 July 2012, 350 Equal Education (EE) members marched through Tembisa, Gauteng. The march concluded EE’s National Congress at which the movement elected new leadership, adopted a new Constitution, and issued a powerful closing resolution.
EE delegates, observers and other EE supporters from across South Africa attended the march. The march had two primary demands. These were, firstly, the immediate finalisation of binding Minimum Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure, and secondly, the appointment by the President of a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the tendering process relating to textbooks and workbooks.
Tembisa holds special significance for EE and the struggle for education. Following the repression of the Soweto uprisings on 16 June 1976, learners gathered in Tembisa on 17 June 1976 to demonstrate solidarity with Sowetan learners. EE marched the same route that Tembisa learners marched in 1976.
Tembisa is the site of EE’s newest branch. Before the march EE members took to the streets of Tembisa to mobilise the community. They went door-to-door handing out pamphlets and collecting signatures for a petition for Minimum Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure.
The petitions and a memorandum addressed to Gauteng MEC for Education Barbara Creecy was handed over to Ekurhuleni North District Director Ephraim Tau.
For more information please contact
Brad Brockman on 072 267 8489
Yoliswa Dwane on 072 342 7747