The Ugie based ET Thabane Primary School is, quite literally, falling apart at the seams, but its cries for help over the past seven years have fallen on deaf ears, with the Eastern Cape Department of Education simply ignoring their plight. Instead, the Department has spent over R578 million of its infrastructure budget for the current year, purchasing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at highly inflated prices from connected cadres, paying …


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Land invaders who have illegally settled on a stretch of wetland in the Bushmans area have placed their own lives at risk, as they have built their homes in an area prone to flooding. Even more disconcerting is that they have allegedly done so with the permission of local government officials. Yesterday I conducted an oversight inspection in the area, accompanied by local DA councillors Jocelyn Guest and Phil Kani, …


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The Education Portfolio Committee must call the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) to explain why it has turned to the High Court in a bid to stop a controversial R538 million tablet deal between the provincial education department and the Sizwe Africa IT Group. The evidence is piling up that the contract, awarded to a subsidiary of well-known ANC-ally Iqbal Survé’s Ayo Technology Solutions, is irregular and should be set …


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The ANC has whitewashed the awarding of a controversial R530 million contract to Sizwe Africa IT Group, which is a subsidiary of well-known ANC ally Iqbal Survé’s Ayo Technology Solutions. The ANC Education portfolio members have resolved to go ahead with the contract during the latest portfolio committee meeting, despite the vehement objections from opposition parties. It was clear from the outset of the meeting that the ANC members had …


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Thousands of learners across the Eastern Cape, waiting to be phased back into classes have gone hungry, as the School Nutrition Programme (SNP) in the province has failed to provide them with meals. In a report to the Education Portfolio Committee last week (6 August 2020), the Department of Education revealed that only 3,25% of learners had received meals from the SNP during lockdown. This despite the High Court in …


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Education Head of Department, Superintendent General Themba Kojana, has broken the law by providing false testimony and information to the Eastern Cape Portfolio Committee of Education, under oath. This is concerning the awarding of the controversial R530 million contract to Sizwe Africa IT Group, which is a subsidiary of well-known ANC ally Iqbal Survé’s Ayo Technology Solutions. This once against illustrates that the Eastern Cape is not only the epicientre …


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The ban on interprovincial travel for hunting, as has been gazetted by Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Barbara Creecy, continues to have a devastating effect on the hunting industry in the Eastern Cape. Although the minister has withdrawn the regulations banning overnight accommodation, she has not gone far enough, and her inaction is costing the industry millions in lost revenue, and places thousands of jobs on the line. Hunting …


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Amended regulations relating to hunting, gazetted by the National Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries this week as part of government’s ongoing Covid-19 pandemic response, will have a devastating impact on the already overburdened industry in the Eastern Cape. These regulations, implemented by an out of touch ANC government, effectively bans any provision of accommodation for hunters and will undoubtedly result in more job losses in the sector! SEE: Gazette …


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Education MEC, Fundile Gade, is still refusing to appear before a special sitting of Education Portfolio Committee to answer questions on the irregular R160 million contract with Sizwe Africa IT Group, six weeks after his initial refusal to be held accountable. If the MEC is adamant that the procurement was all above board, why is he hiding? Surely if there is nothing untoward about the contract, then there would be …


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The Department of Education has apparently wasted millions of rands, paying exorbitant amounts for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for schools, which illustrates once again how the Eastern Cape is becoming the epicentre of Covid-19 corruption. After many attempts to obtain the truth from the MEC for Education, Fundile Gade, through means of parliamentary questions, and asking him directly in a portfolio committee meeting, the costing of PPE distributed to schools …


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