•        Honourable Speaker and Deputy Speaker

•        Honourable Premier and the Executive

•        Honourable members of the legislature

•        Officials present here

•        Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

Honourable Speaker I wish to indicate that I have observed a defeatist image in the Department of Education, but when you come close you can see that there are greater strides achieved both politically and administratively. We were at time of celebrating stability and progress in this department until we were informed that the head of department was suspended. There are four institutions in South Africa that you always avoid if you still love your career; it is SAFA, SABC, department education and department of health in the Eastern Cape.

Honourable speaker it is a known fact that every effective and performing organisation needs permanency, those who are charged by acting responsibility have no full mandate because they themselves operate under as induced cloud, first they must prove to their predecessors that they have not always being eyeing their jobs so they would not want to make drastic action to tamper with their legacy lest they come become with venom. But the dichotomy is that they don’t want to rock the boat for the incumbent and that creates a state of vacillation. We are particularly not please by the  lack permanency in the department, we wish to appeal to the MEC that post needs to filled with speed notwithstanding the pending matters in terms of labour relations.

Honourable Speaker the second issue that we are keen to raise is that this department must be given space to focus on its core business, it is not pleasing to discover that some of the problems are logistically problems that relates to education such as the construction of schools.

The non-payment of teachers remain to be sour point in this department, we are projecting the people in government yet our people are suffering under their watch and the sad part about the whole situation is the fact this perennial issues are issues that we have control over but teachers who have served with their sweat can look back and enjoy their retirement and the department put on the health and some might die if before they see their monies.

What is more frustrating Honourable speaker is the non-payment of teachers in budgeted post, where get employed and months pass without remuneration. This cannot accepted at all.

Honourable Speaker I might have missed this issue of rural allowance and I notice there little mention if any. The UDM is particular interest in whether this issues do have a positive impact in attracting good teachers in the rural areas.

The UDM welcomes the EPWP programme that is geared towards ensuring that the education sector contributes to job creation, however Honourable Speaker we think that a more comprehensive approach could be implemented to make sure that these opportunities can be sustained even when the EPWP coffers dries up. We wish to call upon the department to rethink the strategic intervention of these jobs. They cannot be left in the manner where the department has allocated because have a potential to be a sour point in the school.