Minister of basic education of South Africa

Equal education is a myth in the supposed meritocracy of South Africa, a fantasy and wishful thinking of the Mandela era.

Our government and politicians may differ from me when I say that equal education in South Africa is a myth, and a fantasy and wishful thinking of the Mandela era. Perhaps we as the public are also to blame for failing to hold our government, politicians and public officials accountable and responsible for their service failures. The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) in 2022 promised At least NGOs like Equal Education and others never shun the responsibility of making the Department of Basic Education accountable. I become sick to my stomach and disgusted when our leaders in their commentary about the excellent performance of learners from independent schools decry the outcomes of our worst-performing public schools. Some would not want to speak much against the persistent and pervasive inequality because their hands are still dabbling in the cookie jar. What is sad, and should be a concern to all South Africans, is that educational inequality by socioeconomic background will persist at current levels throughout the next generation. Unfortunately, they are not aware that what their parents’ government is giving them access to is a doomed future of pit latrines, rolling blackouts and desert-dry water taps. The yearly reality is that inequality in our public education is maximally maintained instead of being chipped away. Tangible evidence available to ordinary South Africans is that instead of compensating for social inequality, our country’s education system appears to be aggravating it. What is more, our government, politicians and the media seem to perpetuate this simplistic perspective about educational inequality. They rather shift the axis of inequality to higher education for their benefit.