Nursery schools put pressure on minister

MINISTER of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu may face legal action following her statement that private nursery schools and early-learning centres may only open once the department has given the go-ahead.

“In her statement, the minister claims that nursery schools need to obtain approval or certification by the department before they may open. In terms of the recent court ruling, any private preschool that can open safely may do so,” said Anton van der Bijl, Solidarity’s head of labour law services.

The union said it considered the minister’s actions in this regard to be in contempt of the court’s ruling. The union has sent a letter of demand to the department in which the minister was asked to withdraw her remarks immediately and allow schools to open.

Marisa Engelbrecht, of the union’s occupational guild for social workers section, said it had been inundated with calls from private nursery schools and early learning centres left confused about whether they could reopen without certification from the department.

Judge Hans Fabricius said in his judgment that all private preschool institutions, offering Grade R and lower, may open, provided they have adequate Covid-19 safety neasures.

Engelbrecht said nowhere in the judgment does it state the department first had to issue a certification of readiness.

She also questioned how the department was able to access more than 29 000 of these nursery schools across the country.

Engelbrecht also said the minister never gave her input during the urgent application brought by the union on behalf of private nursery schools.

“Why is she now prescribing what should happen before they are able to open?” she asked.

Van der Bijl said if the minister was found guilty of contempt of the court order by hindering the preschools from opening, the minister’s actions can incur a prison sentence for herself.

Judge Fabricius last week overturned government’s regulations that these institutions remained closed under lockdown level 3.

The minister never filed any court papers in her opposition to the case, while her Basic Education and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs counterparts said they would abide by the court ruling.