Angie’s notoriety ballooning badly
MINISTER of Basic Education Angie Motshekga was all dolled up when she took centre stage at an Equal Education (EE) Youth Day march yesterday.
Motshekga’s double – a 7m high and 3m wide blow-up doll – took part in the shenanigans in Pretoria when it appeared alongside 1 500 protesters.
The protest was one of three which took place in the country. Thousands also attended marches in Durban and Cape Town.
The larger-than-life effigy listened silently as several children wearing school uniforms spoke out about their disappointment over Motshekga’s failure to address South Africa’s schools norms and standards infrastructure issues.
“We have the utmost respect for the minister and it was not our intent to insult her. We got the balloon as a way to represent her because she declined our invitations to attend today’s march” said Brad Brockman, EE’s general secretary.
This is not the first time that protesters have poked fun at the minister. Earlier this year the Gender Equality Commission were in talks with the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union after their members brandished a large pair of panties with the words “Puluma ya Angie” [Angie’s panties]. The matter has been taken to the Equality Court.
Fortunate Matsha, 15, of Tembisa Secondary School, said: “We need access to proper education. At my school we have broken chairs and some of the classrooms don’t have ceilings,” she said.
Lucia Sonti, 16, of Ingqayizivele High School in Tembisa, said: “We are learning under harsh conditions.”
The NGO is taking the minister to court in July in the hope of getting a judge to instruct Motshekga to implement the basic norms and standards.
The Education Department, however, believes EE has acted in bad faith by taking the ministry to court.
“Equal Education is fully aware of these processes and the legal time frames involved, hence the minister’s request to allow at least six months for the process to take place.
“It is disappointing to note the bad faith in which Equal Education is dealing with this matter, by going to court and causing unnecessary media frenzy, considering that they are privy to all the processes,” it said.