Lesufi to take Overvaal case to ConCourt

Minister says school must have English teachers

Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi is not taking the temperate approach of Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga towards the implementation of English language streams at Afrikaans schools.

Instead‚ Lesufi said he wanted to go directly to the top court in the land.

“Our legal team met with the National Department of Basic Education yesterday to look at the Hoërskool [Overvaal] case. We have taken a decision to approach the Constitutional Court directly. We are also filing our appeal this Friday. We believe we have good grounds to appeal this matter‚” he said.

At the weekend‚ Motshekga took a practical stance‚ urging those demanding the immediate enrolment of black and English-speaking pupils to calmly discuss the matter. She also emphasised the need to deal with issues raised by the North Gauteng High Court.

“Let’s deal with issues raised by the judge‚ and not take the matters out of context. The judge raised administrative matters‚ and let’s see if we can address them. The school must have English books and English teachers‚” she said.

The row at Overvaal erupted after the school refused an instruction by the Gauteng education department to accept 55 English-speaking pupils. The school said it had no capacity to admit the pupils‚ and could not set up a parallel stream in the time-frame it was given by the department.

Lesufi’s office said the MEC has been meeting with several stakeholders in an attempt to restore calm at the school. –