Statement by Ciska Jordaan MP – DA Deputy Spokesperson on Basic Education:
The Democratic Alliance (DA) notes today’s engagement of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education with the Minister and officials of the Department of Basic Education regarding allegations of irregularities in recruitment processes.
During the proceedings, a key allegation – that the Minister or her office instructed officials to include specific CVs in a shortlist – was directly refuted by the official concerned, who confirmed that no such instruction was received.
This is a critical clarification, which goes to the heart of the claims that triggered this engagement. Despite clear confirmation by the Department’s Chief Director for Human Resources that Minister Siviwe Gwarube did not interfere in the recruitment process under discussion, certain members continued to push a shifting narrative built on insinuation rather than evidence.
Instead of settling the matter following this confirmation, the Chairperson allowed the Committee to embark on a wild goose chase, shifting allegations and permitting baseless speculation about ongoing HR processes and even concerning private individuals who are no longer public servants – matters that carry clear legal implications and should never have been entertained without proper legal advice, reflecting recklessness and uninformed decision-making on her part.
The DA further notes that, when providing evidence to the Committee, officials confirmed that the actions taken by the Minister were consistent with her legal responsibilities as Executive Authority, including ensuring that recruitment processes are lawful, fair, and based on merit.
The facts are straightforward. The Minister acted squarely within the ambit of the Public Service Act. At no stage did the Minister or her office instruct that any candidate be favoured or prejudiced. To portray lawful executive oversight as interference is not only misleading – it risks undermining the professional functioning of committees of Parliament.
The DA cautions against the use of unverified claims by certain Members of the Committee to cast aspersions on lawful executive oversight, particularly where such claims are contradicted by the evidence presented to the Committee.
The DA is concerned that what should be a matter of administrative clarity is increasingly being framed in a manner that risks undermining legitimate efforts to strengthen governance within the Department.
The work currently underway to improve the integrity of recruitment processes and attract skilled professionals into the public service is both necessary and long overdue.
The DA supports the Minister’s continued efforts to professionalise the Department of Basic Education, strengthen accountability, and ensure that appointments are made in the best interests of learners and the country.
As the Committee process is ongoing, the DA encourages that all further engagements be guided by facts, the law, and a shared commitment to protecting the integrity of the Department.
The Committee’s focus should remain on strengthening and providing oversight over the work of the Department and ensuring that it fulfils its responsibility to serve the 13.7 million learners in South Africa’s basic education system, rather than being drawn into a politically-manufactured witch hunt.
The DA will continue to support reforms that build a capable, ethical and professional public service and will not allow parliamentary processes to be abused to intimidate reform-minded leadership.
Stacker of Wheat
Denmark: You have two cows. They have more rights than you.
Shady Prairie
A British man on safari walks into a bar far out in the reaches of a game reserve in Southern Africa, he stays at the bar for a while shooting the shit with the bartender and drinking like a fish, he offer to buy the barkeep a round and since no one else is within 2km of their small oasis of liquor the barkeep obliges. The englishman goes off to the bathroom to have a good old go at the porcelain, he\’s back and ready for a few more whiskeys. He\’s just sat down when suddenly in the distance he hears a scream. He looks over his shoulder and dismisses it as nothing, he turns to the barkeep and orders a drink, takes a sip and hears the scream again. He looks at the barkeep who just shrugs it off. A minute or two later he and the barman hear it again and go outside to take a look. They see a lone figure running towards them screaming, he spots them and lets out a cry, RUN!!!!! HE\”S COMING!!!!!
The barkeep and the Englishman both look at the terrified bedraggled sight before them, and try to calm him down, but he\’s completely inconsolable. They give him water and finally manage to get a word out of him but he struggles free from their grasp and run away screaming.
A few minutes later the same thing happens with a whole group of men running in and screaming, he\’s coming, he\’s coming the barkeep grabs hold of one of the men as he tries to sprint past the bar and tries to get information out of him, again no response other than terrified gibberish.
The barkeep and his customer are starting to get worried, they start to pack up before another group of horrified natives run up to the bar most of them flee but one tries to hide behind the bar, the barkeep pulls out a shotgun and points it at the terrified man\’s face, finally managing to coax some words out of him. \”He\’s coming for us, Vernon Koekemoer is coming for us, we have to hide!!! We have to get out of here.\” He gets up and tries to run but the barkeep grabs him, feeling trapped in a panic he grabs the barkeeps shotgun and blows his own head off. The Englishman and the barkeep look at each other starting to really panic now.
They look out of the window and off in the distance they see a tornado coming towards the bar, at the bottom of the tornado they see the hugest beast of a man they have ever seen, as he gets closer they spot that he is riding a rhinocerous and using a crocodile as a riding whip, with each smack of the crocodile across the back of the rhino the louder is screams and the faster it runs, the tornado following it getting ever larger.
The 2 look at each other and start to fortify their position, they\’ve got a gun and they\’re waaay to drunk to run, so they start piling bar stool and tables and anything they can get their hands on to make sure they\’ll be safe when he arrives. They\’re not gonna make it, they can see the man slowing down his rhino, by now the crocodile is nothing but reptile paste on the bruised rump of the half dead rhino, the rhino drops down dead from exhaustion and crashes to the ground right outside the bar the tornado loses it\’s last breath in a cloud of dust as the huge man crashes his way through the make shift barricade and charges up towards the bar where the 2 men have taken shelter, he grabs a bottle of the hardest liquor on the shelf and down the entire litre in 1 gulp, he peers over the bar sobbing and sees the 2 defenders cowering down behind the crates of beer, they look up at the mans\’ face and he stares at them with a look of complete and utter hopelessness, he stares at them for a half second and half screams, half sobs, \”Oh my god what are you still doing here!!! WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW!!!! Vernon Koekemoer is coming!!!!\”