Matric proposals don’t go far enough to challenge pupils

THE proposed new matric, as reported in “Radical matric reform on the cards” (August 3), is not challenging enough. Although it is true that we want every South African to be educated, the quality of that education should be world class. Otherwise, it creates mediocre, lowquality people who are functionally incapable and unable to create work for themselves.

Our education at pre-matric level is not taxing enough. Our children are capable of studying more than six subjects from grades 7 to 12.

Our children are capable of achieving good passes in all their subjects if they are encouraged to work smarter and harder.

Not demanding the best of them is creating underachievers. The pass mark should not be less than 50%.

The learning of a South African language that is not from the same group as the home language should help to foster respect for other South Africans and their cultures and promote easier communication among compatriots.

Improvements in the quality of basic education must be made in tandem with the training of teachers.

The education departments in South Africa seem to implement changes without proper prior planning. If the training of the trainers is left behind, the lessons of the past from the implementation of outcomes-based education will have been forgotten. — Danny Mafoko, by e-mail

Shame those who fail exams

I REFER specifically to the recommendations by the ministerial task team reviewing matric exams that newspapers no longer print matric results, because unsuccessful candidates would be embarrassed at being publicly named as failures.

I object. Why should successful candidates not be acknowledged for the time and effort they’ve put in? The candidates who failed to achieve an already ridiculously low standard should have overcome their embarrassment earlier on in their school careers and applied themselves to the task at hand. — Vicki Austin, by SMS

A vendetta against fashion man

QUESTIONS that need to be raised in response to the alleged plagiarism by Gavin Rajah as reported in “Great minds think alike, or maybe not” (August 3) are:

What personal vendetta does Sim Tshabalala have against Rajah?

Do our design colleges and technikons not encourage students to look at overseas fashions for inspiration?

What does attacking people’s careers say about how low one will go?

Should the major fashion houses close their archives and prevent their new leading designers from being inspired by past creations?

Which designer has never been inspired by the past or other designers?

What does this pettiness say about the state of fashion in South Africa?

Has Rajah’s contribution to the South African fashion industry — growing it and publicising it internationally — been forgotten?

Finally, how did those in authority in the local fashion industry win their positions? Was it owing to their CV, family name, who they know, or years of experience?

Answers from all would be appreciated to clear my obvious naivety. — Gideon, South African designer, by SMS

The leopards are not to blame

I READ “Public protector takes on roaming predators” (August 3) about the leopards and hyenas that make their way out of the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park.

First, leopards pay no heed to game fences and if their territory falls outside a protected area, they will find a way to reach it in order to patrol it. This is irrespective of how well maintained the fence is. Their first choice may not necessarily be to catch and eat livestock, but if domestic animals are unprotected or not secure, they will attack them because leopards are opportunistic hunters.

Kraaling methods can overcome a lot of these issues — leopard also do not like to hunt large animals with horns, so calves should be left with the herd when they are old enough to walk longer distances. Goats and sheep can be a problem, which is why companion animals should be used where possible.

Very seldom will a leopard become a man-eater. It will attack, however, if it feels it is in danger or cubs are being threatened.

As an ambush predator, the leopard cannot afford to risk injury, because it will be less likely to be able to hunt thereafter. It will, however, become a vicious foe if it is hunted, cornered or threatened. — Darryl van Niekerk, by e-mail

Reeva’s parents were ripped off

“REEVA’S folks cashing in on interviews” (August 3) refers. The first TV interview with the Steenkamps was on Carte Blanche. The interviewers paid them nothing, despite the fact that the interviewer sold the programme and made money from it. — Disappointed Reader, by SMS

Blood money for interviews

AS far as I’m concerned, the money the Steenkamps get for their interviews is blood money. — Anon, by SMS

Paying for Mandela’s memory

HOW sad is the story you tell in “Madiba’s starving cattle saved by state” (August 3). A mansion in the background, a trust worth millions. Can you please tell the people of South Africa and the neighbours in Qunu — whose animals are also starving — why the state vet has to go to the rescue for free? And donate 60 bales of feed? Surely the Mandelas can pay for castrating 30 cattle, dehorning some, vaccinations and feed for their animals.

Thandi Modise got a lot of flak, which was deserved, but my problem is the double standards. Yes, the property did belong to an icon, but there are new owners now. Just how long do we have to keep paying for the memory? — Liz Mitchley, Port Elizabeth

Odd way to give Shakes the job

I AGREE with Bareng Batho-Kortjaas’s sentiments expressed in “Faster and fitter legs — plus fresh minds please” (August 3). But I just wonder how Shakes Mashaba will achieve whatever (I am unsure of the targets set for him) if there was no recruitment process. I’m not saying interviewing is a panacea, but at least you get to understand the intentions. — Maestro, by e-mail

Debates were never decent

HAVING read both S’thembiso Msomi’s “Malema’s resort to the politics of farce will be his party’s ruin” (July 27) and JanJan Joubert’s “Faint echoes of 1994 as fresh faces bring vitality to debates” (August 3), I submit that heckling in parliament in today’s South Africa predated the Economic Freedom Fighters’ presence in that respectable institution.

As a public relations intern at the Gauteng legislature in 2001, I witnessed with shock how members of all parties howled expletives or shouted each other down. In most cases, such expletives were more audible than the person putting his or her point across.

When my internship ended, I was left in no doubt that parliamentary debates are not meant to be decent at all. Indeed, one sees from time to time on TV that MPs in other countries throw punches at each other.

Parliament is tough terrain that requires the off-road capabilities of a Jeep Wrangler if you are to negotiate it. You cannot expect the EFF to walk through that rough terrain as if its members were on some pavement in Sandton.

Away with fat cats taking naps in parliament.— Kabelo Motlhanka, by e-mail

Territories cost blood to gain

LET’S not say Israel has the right to defend her territory, when the whole world knows that Israel carried out massacres to gain those territories. — Yunus Patel, by e-mail