The DA’s month-long national education campaign came to a close in Port Elizabeth last weekend with a public rally attended by party leader Helen Zille.

Provincial MPL and spokesperson on education, Edmund van Vuuren, was cheered when he pointed out some of the weakest points in the Eastern Cape Department of Education.

He said the majority of schools in the disadvantaged areas of the Eastern Cape are dysfunctional while most positions within the Department of Education are filled by people that are not fit for purpose. He added that the majority of education officials do not know how to interpret or apply the South African Schools Act. “Are you as parents happy with the dilapidated state of our schools? This Department of Education is failing all of us in not providing our people with the best opportunities to achieve their goals. Education, people, is the foundation for a better and brighter future,” he said.

Van Vuuren challenged the meeting to get rid of the ANC-led government and go en masse to the polls next year and take charge of the Nelson Mandela Metro to show how things should be done. Van Vuuren’s full speech can be read on www.dabhisho.org.za