FED UP parents in the Eastern Cape have unofficially shut down close to 300 public schools in their communities, turning them into white elephants because they would rather send their children elsewhere to receive better schooling.
This comes amid reports the state is to spend R657-million less on new schools this year as provinces battle to meet demand.
COPE, DA heavyweights brave Bay’s bad weather to woo by-election voters
COPE and DA political heavyweights braved yesterday’s inclement weather in their bid to woo Nelson Mandela Bay voters ahead of the hotly contested by-elections on Wednesday. The by-elections to be held in wards 55 (Motherwell), 26 (Zwide) and 15 (New Brighton) follow the deaths of three ANC councillors in a car accident in January. They will determine whether the ANC retains its outright majority of 63 in the council. The opposition parties hold 57 seats.
Addressing supporters at the Sisonke Community Centre in Zwide, COPE president Mosiuoa Lekota likened the party to the mythical bird, the phoenix, saying: “If anyone thought or wrote an article that COPE was gone, they must eat those words. People are saying we want COPE not the DA to lead us. That is what we also want. There will be no turning back from here.”
YOUNG doctors are leaving the Eastern Cape in droves because budgets are simply too inadequate to cover the basic costs of quality equipment and the maintenance of medical facilities.
According to a Human Resources for Health report from October last year the Eastern Cape has just over half the density of health professionals per 10 000 compared to that of Gauteng and the Western Cape – an indication young doctors believed serving at state institutions in the province was not worth their while.
EDUCATION stakeholders in the Eastern Cape have slammed the provincial Education Department’s budget for catering more to the financial needs of its staff than the department’s core business – the pupils.
Tabling his second budget as MEC for Education yesterday, Mandla Makupula told how 91.2% of the R26.28-billion budget – up from R24.6-billion in the current financial year – was to go towards staff salaries.
Presenting his policy speech for the 2012/2013 financial year at the Bhisho legislature, Gqobana said the hospitals set to benefit from this financial injection were Cecilia Makiwane in Mdantsane, St Patricks in Bizana, Frontier in Queenstown, St Elizabeth in Lusikisiki and Madwaleni inElliotdale.
Gqobana said of the R1.4-billion set aside for infrastructure in the 2011/2012 financial year, 92% of that amount had been spent.
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