COSAS NCPTT STATEMENT ON THE APPOINTMENT OF THE NEW CABINET
The Congress of South African Students (COSAS) notes the announcement of the 7th administration’s cabinet by President Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa. As the Congress of South African Students we applaud the African National Congress for successfully creating a consensus amongst 10 different political parties put in parliament by the electorate during the 2024 national Elections. The task of engaging and finding consensus with opposition parties whom mostly campaigned on the slogan of removing the ANC can not have been easy. As an Organization we thus welcome the establishment of the GNU that has for the first time in the history of our maturing democracy and the world brought together 10 parties with varying ideologies and beliefs of what is necessary to drive the country forward we welcome the GNU despite our wish that the GNU did not include the DA and FF+. We hope this diversification of ideas will lead to a cabinet that always functions in the best interest of the majority for this to be successful a broader consensus must be reached between the members of the GNU. We hereby welcome the initiative by the President to convene a national dialogue, we call upon the presidency to ensure broad and extensive participation from all sectors and spheres of society.
As The Congress Of South African Students we applaud and commend the president for demonstrating in actions that his government and his party the ANC values and knows that young people have enormous potential to positively transform our country and improve the lives of its people. The president has for the first time in the history of our country appointed three young people to serve in his cabinet (Deputy Ministers of Trade, Industry and Competition are Zuko Godlimpi,Deputy Ministers in the Presidency are Nonceba Mhlauli & deputy minister of employment and labour Phumzile Mgcina) The president also demonstrated in action that South African belongs to all those who live in it and there is no place for bigotry by appointing a member of the LGBTQIA+ community (Deputy Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities is Mmapaseka Steve Letsike) as part of his cabinet. We hope these actions by the President will inspire a paradigm shift in the country that will see a greater inclusion of young people and members of the LGBTQIA+ community in positions of influence.
We however hold the view that the appointment of Siviwe Gwarube of the DA as minister of education puts under significant threat our people’s hard-won gains in the basic education sector. We feel the DA-led ministry is poised to reverse the progress made thus far in our public schools particularly rural and township schools that are still in dire need of further development to overcome the many challenges they are still espoused to, meanwhile widening the gap between our rural, township and former model C schools in an effort to cater to the interests of the rich at the expense of the poor majority of South Africans. For far too long, the ruling elite has manipulated the education system to serve their needs, perpetuating a cycle of inequality and oppression and our fear is that the progress made thus far to disrupt this cycle is under threat with basic education now in the hands of a party that sees no need for social welfare projects. As the Congress Of South African Students we declare to resuscitate grass root activism in schools in an effort to build strong and active sub-branches and branches of COSAS, this will be done in preparation to defend the gains we have made as a country thus far in as far as building a dynamic,Compulsory,free,Decolonised and people centered education. We anticipate an onslaught against the existence of non-fee paying schools because in the eyes of the DA education is a commodity, we expect an onslaught against the National Schools Nutrition Program that sees to it that learners receive free meals at school, we expect and onslaught against the provision of free stationary and we expect a regression in the momentum we were observing of the provision of breakfast in our schools. It’s because of this bleak outlook as an organization we must Organize and prepare to defend the dignity and education of a black child as they will be hit the hardest by The DA and the austerity measures we expect in basic education under them.
We also wish to agree with our adoptive parents SADTU that the DA has zero respect for collective bargaining, organized labour formation and they hold a particular disdain for SADTU because of its progressive and pro-black character and its size as one of the biggest unions of workers in the country. They will attempt to sabotage student activism and unions (SADTU in particular) which will be a blatant attempt to silence the voices of the future generation and those who mould this future. The ANC’s acceptance of DA’s Demand for the ministry of basic education is a betrayal of the people’s trust and a deviation from its historical commitment to social justice and utilizing education as an instrument of liberation and empowerment.
We demand a basic education sector that prioritizes the needs of the many, not the few. A sector that fosters critical thinking, creativity, and inclusivity. A sector that recognizes the value of education as a public good, not a commodity for the privileged, a basic education that respects collective bargaining, a basic education that respects and works hand in hand with teacher unions.
