Why I have always believed in Basic Education

My Fellow South African,

As we enter the new year, many pupils and students are eagerly embarking on the next phase of their educational journey. This past week, we saw thousands of matriculants celebrating their matric results while classrooms across the country were filled with eager grade 1 pupils. 

They remind me of my own educational journey growing up in Hammanskraal, roughly 50 km outside of Pretoria. Growing up in a child-headed household, I always believed in the power of education to uplift myself and my own community. Despite the many things I experimented with as a teenager, I can proudly say that I only missed a school day when I was sick in bed. 

And while my studies at the University of the North (now known as University of Limpopo) due to the Apartheid State of Emergency, I have never wavered in my belief in education, having supported both my children in pursuing tertiary studies and contributing to numerous bursary programs over the years. 

However, today I am concerned about the state of education in South Africa. As highlighted by ActionSA’s youth and student structures the past few weeks, our tertiary education system is plagued by reports of corruption – even by the higher education minister himself – while the basic education system continues to struggle from a lack of adequate resources. 

While the basic education minister may celebrate an increase in the 2023 matric pass rate, we all know that the matric examinations were surrounded by allegations of papers leaking and declining levels of quality. How any minister can celebrate a matric pass rate while pupils have to use drop toilets or have to cross dangerous rivers to access schools goes beyond comprehension. 

That is exactly what ActionSA seeks to change. When ActionSA was formed on 29 August 2020, one of our founding values was quality education. We were formed with the belief that quality education can transform our society. Our basic education policy specifically wants to improve education for all South Africans by reintroducing school inspectors to ensure quality teaching, breaking the stranglehold of unions over our schools, and eliminating bucket toilets once and for all. 

We want to support our teachers by increasing their salaries. And we want to support our schools by encouraging religious practices of the school governing body’s choice, extra mural activities and  reintroducing specialised subjects so when a pupil leaves the schooling system, they have practical skills to use in the economy such as woodworking. 

We also want to expand tertiary education by expanding the funding for tertiary education. In the coming weeks, I look forward to our ActionSA Youth and Student structures unveiling a comprehensive and one-of-a-kind student model that will answer questions around student funding once and for all. 

But, these solutions can only be implemented if South Africans vote for ActionSA in 2024. If we can get the 18 million South Africans who didn’t vote in 2021 to vote for ActionSA in 2024 (when only 11 million people in total voted for the ANC in the 2021 elections), we can easily remove the ruling party and restore the country onto a path of prosperity. That will require each and every one of us to go door to door to encourage voters to register to vote, and then cast their vote in the upcoming elections.

Because, only by taking action will we fix South Africa.