GOOD Statement by Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General & Member of the Western Cape Parliament:
MEC for Finance, Minister Deidre Baartman, has delivered the Western Cape Government’s Medium Term Budget Policy Statement and Adjustment Budget.
The theme for the Budget Speech, “Scaling for Growth,” couldn’t camouflage a whopping R736.6 million slice taken out of the Education budget. That’s R466 million from the Public Ordinary School’s Budget + R270 million from the Schools Infrastructure Development Budget.
The allocation of a special grant of R232 million from the national government for Early Childhood Development helps, but the nett effect of the adjustment budget on the Education Department is a nett decrease of over R520 million in the current financial year’s budget.
The Western Cape Education Department is a department in crisis.
Last year, the education sector decided to cut 2,407 teacher posts, choosing to prioritise policing while running a false narrative about being a victim of budget cuts.
The budget tabled in March 2024 was fundamentally misleading the parliament and the people of the Western Cape by failing to disclose that the funding allocated for teachers was not enough to cover the number of teachers employed and budgeted for by the province. I have laid criminal charges against the then MEC for Finance and Education in this regard.
Now, the Department is reducing its salaries and infrastructure budgets by another R700 million. This will further exacerbate overcrowding and place an additional burden on those teachers who remain employed by a
Department that is unable to stabilise its budget and funding for compensation of employees.
Baartman did not table a budget that is “Scaling for Growth” – she tabled a budget that re-undermines the development of future generations, destroys futures, and relegates young people to the margins where the gangs find them ready for seduction.
The Western Cape Government can dress this adjustment budget up in any fancy title it likes. As they say: “Al dra ‘n aap ‘n goue ring bly hy nog steeds ‘n lelike ding.”
GOOD Electoral Performance: GOOD contested its first national elections in 2019.
Scuffs
Jamaica: You have two cows. They win 25 gold medals at the Bovine Olympics.
Devine Melon
Hayibo! – wow! [Hai-bo] Derived from the Zulu word meaning “definitely not!” This word is usually expressed on its own, at the start or end of a sentence when something seems unbelievable.Example: “Hayibo! Ha! Ha! I can’t believe that!”