Admin
21 Oct, 2025
Gade hides behind matric exams as Eastern Cape education crumbles
Statement by Bulelani Bobotyane, Provincial Secretary of the UDM in the Eastern Cape The United Democratic Movement (UDM) in the Eastern Cape condemns the conduct of Eastern Cape Education MEC Fundile Gade, who attempted to postpone Parliamentary oversight visits under the pretext of matric examinations. This was not a scheduling conflict. It was a blatant attempt to dodge responsibility in the face of damning findings about the provincial department’s failures, including criticism from members of his own party. The Auditor-General has confirmed that the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Education spent 99.9% of its budget yet achieved only 10% of its infrastructure targets. Even African National Congress (ANC) Members of Parliament were forced to admit that the situation is devastating and called for heads to roll. Instead of welcoming oversight and taking urgent corrective action, MEC Gade’s instinct was to evade scrutiny and hide behind the hard work of matriculants who deserve his full accountability, not excuses. The ANC’s provincial government is effectively pretending to fix education infrastructure while knowing the maths do not add up. Officials admit that the province needs R72 billion to clear its backlog within ten years, yet they budget only R1.8 billion a year. That is less than a quarter of what is required, and even those limited funds fail to deliver. Spending 99.9% of a budget while meeting only 10% of targets is not progress; it is the illusion of governance. If the provincial education department truly spends 99.9% of its budget, the people of this province deserve to know what it is being spent on. Where are the new classrooms, the repaired roofs, the functioning toilets and the rebuilt storm-damaged schools? How can so much money disappear into paperwork, travel and administration while learners sit under leaking prefabs and teachers work without electricity or proper sanitation? This is not a resource problem; it is a leadership and accountability crisis. The timing of the exams does not absolve MEC Gade from appearing before Parliament or explaining how billions have been spent with almost nothing to show for it. Leadership means facing the truth, not running from it. The province’s learners study in prefabricated classrooms, hundreds of schools remain closed or vandalised, and 427 schools still have pit latrine toilets. These are the real emergencies, not the Parliamentary calendar. The UDM in the Eastern Cape welcomes this decision and commends Parliament for standing firm in defence of accountability. Oversight is not a favour to the provincial executive; it is a constitutional duty. The time for excuses is over. The children of the Eastern Cape deserve leadership that works, not officials who hide behind exams and empty audits.
Admin
16 Oct, 2025
Three decades later, the ANC still fails Eastern Cape learners
Statement by Bulelani Bobotyane, Provincial Secretary of the UDM in the Eastern Cape The United Democratic Movement (UDM) in the Eastern Cape condemns the ongoing decay and abandonment of school infrastructure across the province. What we see today is not a sudden crisis but the direct outcome of three decades of neglect under the African National Congress (ANC) government. The ruling party’s failures in planning, oversight and accountability have left thousands of learners without safe and functional schools, while its officials hide behind bureaucracy and empty promises. No one takes responsibility for the hundreds of closed school buildings scattered across the province. Public infrastructure is collapsing while officials pass blame from one department to another. More than a thousand schools have been shut down, many left vandalised and stripped of value, while children in other communities are still learning in structures that are unsafe, overcrowded or falling apart. The tragedy of the Ginsberg Crèche in Qonce, formerly known as King William’s Town, founded by Steve Biko as a living symbol of self-reliance and community dignity, captures the depth of this failure. To allow such a historic and visionary space to decay is an act of utter disrespect, not only to Biko’s legacy but to the children it was meant to serve. A place once built to nurture young minds now lies in ruins, overrun by weeds and indifference. It stands as a monument to how far this province has drifted from its moral duty to protect and educate its children. The UDM in the Eastern Cape calls for the following urgent actions: 1. Eastern Cape Department of Education to conduct a full audit of all closed, abandoned and collapsing schools, publish the findings, and present an infrastructure recovery plan with clear deadlines for refurbishment, reconstruction and security. 2. Provincial Department of Public Works and Infrastructure to take responsibility for maintaining and securing all disused school properties to prevent vandalism, theft and further deterioration. 3. Provincial Treasury to ensure that funds allocated for education infrastructure are ring-fenced and fully spent within the financial year, with public quarterly reports on expenditure and progress. 4. National Department of Basic Education to intervene where provincial capacity has failed through targeted support, technical expertise and oversight to fast-track safe and dignified learning facilities. 5. Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Basic Education to institute a formal inquiry into the collapse and abandonment of public-school infrastructure in the Eastern Cape and demand accountability for wasted funds and stalled projects. 6. Communities and School Governing Bodies to guard against vandalism and theft and insist that local schools and historic educational sites such as the Ginsberg Crèche are restored and protected for future generations. The UDM in the Eastern Cape echoes the call to find constructive and community-driven alternative uses for mothballed school buildings so that these spaces can once again serve public good rather than fall into ruin. No province with such deep educational need can afford to lose even a single classroom to incompetence.
Admin
11 Oct, 2025
Scholar transport chaos a legacy of decades of ANC failure
Scholar transport chaos a legacy of decades of ANC failure Statement by Bulelani Bobotyane, Provincial Secretary of the UDM in the Eastern Cape Years of poor planning and neglect have turned the Eastern Cape’s scholar transport programme into a crisis that now threatens thousands of learners. The decision by the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) to suspend scholar transport from 13 October is the direct consequence of the Eastern Cape government’s continued failure to manage and fund this vital programme. This is not an isolated incident but the cumulative outcome of years of mismanagement under African National Congress (ANC) administrations that have consistently failed to prioritise education in this province. For more than a decade, provincial administration has ignored every warning about late payments, corruption, and systemic underfunding. The situation has now reached breaking point. Between 2022 and 2025 alone, the same problems have repeated year after year: • Operators go unpaid for months, leaving them bankrupt while learners are stranded. • In 2024 alone, 50 000 qualifying pupils were excluded from the programme because of budget shortfalls. • The Makhanda High Court ruled in December 2024 that the Departments of Education and Transport acted unconstitutionally by failing to provide scholar transport to all qualifying learners. • The 2025/2026 provincial budget of R800 million has already collapsed under pressure, with funds exhausted by October and scholar transport once again paralysed. • Investigations have revealed millions wasted on “ghost scholar” contracts while real children are left to walk dangerous distances to school. The right to basic education is immediately realisable under the Constitution. The Eastern Cape provincial government has a direct legal duty to provide safe and reliable transport to learners and cannot hide behind excuses of limited funds or administrative delay. Its repeated failure to comply with court orders and to budget adequately for scholar transport places it in clear violation of the Constitution and in potential contempt of the Makhanda High Court judgment. This ongoing neglect is a betrayal of the province’s learners and a breach of the public trust. The UDM in the Eastern Cape demands decisive provincial implementation to restore this critical programme: 1. The Premier must establish a dedicated Provincial Task Team to oversee full implementation of the Makhanda High Court judgment. 2. The MEC for Finance, Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, the MEC for Transport and Community Safety, and the MEC for Education must table an emergency adjustment budget to close funding shortfalls and ensure that all payments are made within 30 days. 3. The Department of Transport must publish a transparent list of all verified operators, payment schedules, and outstanding invoices, and must immediately investigate and eliminate the so-called “ghost scholar” contracts that have drained millions from the programme. 4. The Provincial Treasury must ring-fence all scholar transport funds and prevent diversion to other programmes. 5. The Provincial Legislature’s Education and Transport Committees must conduct monthly oversight visits to monitor compliance, investigate allegations of fraud and mismanagement, and report publicly on progress. There can be no excuse for the Eastern Cape provincial government that once again fails its most vulnerable citizens. The children of the Eastern Cape deserve leadership that plans, pays, and delivers. The UDM in the Eastern Cape will continue to hold the provincial administration accountable until every qualifying learner has safe and reliable transport to school, not as a favour but as a right. This crisis is the direct legacy of the ANC’s decades of neglect and poor governance, which have left the province trapped in a cycle of underfunding, corruption, and administrative failure. As a partner in the Government of National Unity (GNU), the UDM in the Eastern Cape calls on Minister of Basic Education, Ms Gwarube, to intervene decisively. The Minister must ensure that the Eastern Cape government complies with the Makhanda High Court judgment and delivers on its obligations to learners and communities. The GNU cannot allow provincial failures to undermine national commitments to education. Minister Gwarube must demand accountability, enforce compliance with court orders, and ensure that public funds allocated for scholar transport are used transparently and efficiently to restore faith in government and uphold the constitutional right to education.
Admin
02 May, 2025
UDM Eastern Cape calls for accountability, equity, and safety in response to Eastern Cape developments
Statement by Bulelani Bobotyane, Provincial Secretary of the UDM in the Eastern Cape The United Democratic Movement (UDM) in the Eastern Cape is deeply concerned by recent developments across the province, particularly in the education, economic, and energy sectors. While we welcome progressive initiatives that promise growth and transformation, we will not be silent when the vulnerable are forgotten or exploited. 1. The #JusticeForCwecwe campaign has laid bare the failure of our education system to protect our children. The UDM in the Eastern Cape demands that the provincial government not only close non-compliant schools but urgently implement structural safeguards, including a Provincial School Safety Oversight Task Team and school-based trauma units. Child safety is not negotiable. 2. We note the Premier Oscar Mabuyane’s international investment drive to boost the oceans economy. Mabuyane announced that the province would soon visit countries such as Italy and Greece, with the intention to attract investors who could partner with the province “to unlock jobs in our oceans economy”. Mabuyane stated that the oceans economy represents a new growth frontier that, when combined with meaningful transformation, can unlock new economic value chains and opportunities for the people of the Eastern Cape. He also announced that the national government has started the process of officially gazetting small harbours in Hamburg, within the Ngqushwa Municipality, and in Mbizana. While the potential is undeniable, the UDM insists on transparency in all agreements, enforceable 30% local ownership, and the publication of all memoranda of understanding (MOUs). Our coastal communities must not be spectators in an economy built on their heritage. 3. Regarding the R105 billion Hive Green Ammonia Project at Coega (the project by Hive Energy UK at the Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ) outside Gqeberha is the biggest investment of its kind in the world), the UDM in the Eastern Cape welcomes the shift toward sustainable energy. However, we demand full disclosure of the project’s local employment commitments, environmental compliance, and community development plans. The green economy must not become another exclusionary space. As the voice of reason and accountability, the UDM in the Eastern Cape will continue to fight for an inclusive Eastern Cape - one that places people before profits, safety before slogans, and transparency above all.
Admin
26 Feb, 2019
UDM writes to the President regarding stock theft in the Eastern Cape specifically affecting small farmers
Honourable Mr Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa Tuynhuys Building Parliament Street CAPE TOWN 8000 Dear Honourable, Ramaphosa REQUEST FOR YOUR URGENT INTERVENTION: EASTERN CAPE RURAL SMALL FARMERS’ STOCK THEFT Responding to an official invitation by Masifunisane Community Organisation, which is a voluntary association of small-scale rural livestock farmers, to meet with their leaders and members on Sunday, the 24th of February 2019, in Elliotdale. Present in the meeting were rural livestock farmers from Elliotdale, Libode, Mthatha, Willowvale, Idutywa, and Mqanduli. Masifunisane was established as a response to, a rampant scourge of stock theft in the affected areas. Working with local authorities, they are trying their best to track and ensure the return of all the livestock that has been stolen or gone missing. Unfortunately, their experience of success is rather disappointing for the following key reasons, amongst others: • Some of the Mqa nduli police and stock theft unit, are allegedly working with the suspects of stock theft. For instance, the organisation claims to have met with the Deputy Commissioner, Captain Swarts, Captain Monwabisi Mtirara and Captain Mchamba – the head of the Mqanduli Police Station Stock Theft Unit. In which they have yet to constructively receive required cooperation. If this is true, then it is impeding and frustrating any attempts by the farmers to achieve the desired objectives of their organisation. To this end, further details on these allegations are with the leadership of Masifunisane. • The Provincial Authorities were alerted to this challenge but up to date they have dismally failed to make the required intervention and resolve the situation. It is common cause, that, given the astronomically high levels of unemployment and poverty, rural farmers rely on t heir livestock to feed their families, educate their children and in general improve their livelihood. The unabated continuation of the stock theft in these rural areas, threatens the very possibility of rural development and enjoyment of decent livelihood by the rural people. In this regard, I propose that the Honourable President makes an urgent intervention on behalf of the vulnerable rural farmers who have been dismally failed by the provincial authorities, from the highest office in the land. This intervention may include, but not limited to, the deployment of a team of senior police officers to the affected areas of the Eastern Cape, in order to: • Listen to the affected farmers; • Assess with their provincial counter-parts on the scale and scourge of this challenge; • Investigate for themselves on the scale of the problems in these affected areas in particular and the Eastern Cape province in general; • Investigate the role of the police services as well as the veracity of the allegations referred to above; and • Ensure the effectiveness of the Eastern Cape stock theft unit. For further information with regard to the specifics of the incidents of stock theft as well as the allegations against the Mqanduli police, kindly contact the leader of Masifunisane, Mr Zingisa Kula. I will be pleased to be advised on the developments in this matter. Yours in service of the people. Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP President of the United Democratic Movement
