YCLSA WESTERN CAPE STATEMENT ON THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL REOPENING OF SCHOOLS IN THE WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE
YCLSA
YCLSA Western Cape
Press release, 01 June 2020
YCLSA WESTERN CAPE STATEMENT ON THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL REOPENING OF SCHOOLS IN THE WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE
The Young Communist League of South Africa (YCLSA) in the Western Cape province has noted with disgust the announcement by the confused government of the Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape to reopen schools. We unequivocally support the stance of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to take the Western cape government to court to challenge this illogical decision.
It is without doubt that the Democratic Alliance and its government in the Western Cape has total disregard for the lives of the people in the Western Cape. The Democratic Alliance is more focused on the economy and privatizing the system of governance to entrench class and racial inequality. The dropout leader of the Democratic Alliance has since the announcement of the nationwide lockdown solely focused on the reopening of the economy while citizens have been losing their lives in their numbers. Today, the same government insist that learners should return to school while they have collapsed the health system. This is tantamount to a call for genocide.
The Western Cape government views education as a privilege and not as a human right. The South African constitution is clear on equal access to education and the Western Cape cannot open schools while other provinces have not resumed with the academic calendar. Schools in townships have not met proper safety standards, but simply because they do not accommodate the rich, the government has turned a blind eye. The South African Human Rights Commission has provided clear evidence that the Western Cape is only 30% ready to resume with the academic calendar.
The Western Cape government should be reminded that it is the Democratic Alliance that is federal and not the South African government. If the Democratic Alliance feels like they want to copy Donald Trump’s style of leadership, South Africa is not a fertile ground for reckless decisions that are based on political populism.
The Democratic Alliance views the lives of people as a political tool to campaign for elections. The Western cape government led by the Democratic Alliance has been on a drive to challenge and compete with the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) against the reality of Covid-19 and government efforts. They went further to insist that “people will die anyway”.
While they have failed to respond to the health aspect of Covid-19, they have also failed to respond on the social impact of Covid-19. The government has no strategy and has shown little effort to deal with the social reality.
We therefore call on the Western Cape government to quarantine its thinking capacity from such ill populist decision making. The Democratic Alliance should be held responsible for collapsing the health system in the Western Cape and they should be condemned for putting the lives of poor learners at risk.
Issued by YCLSA Western Cape
Lutho Mhlontlo
Western Cape Acting Provincial Secretary
083 495 0736