When President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that he would be pursuing a Government of National Unity it opened the door for a Cabinet with Ministers from a range of different political parties.
This is not unheard of. Good Party leader Patricia De Lille was Minister of Tourism in the ANC government's last Cabinet and retains her position in the latest parliament. But with the GNU this practice is expanded greatly.
As the second-largest party in the recent elections it follows that the Democratic Alliance would get the majority of non-ANC Cabinet posts - and indeed 6 of their members will be in the new Cabinet.
The youngest of these - and the youngest Minister in SA history - is Siviwe Gwarube a DA member who hails from the Eastern Cape. She attended Kingsridge High School for Girls in King Williams Town before studying at Rhodes University.
The appointment of DA members in the Cabinet has led to a number of rumours spreading wildly across social media. The first was that the DA's Leon Schrieber who will be the new Minister of Home Affairs was not actually a South African! The claims were that he was from Zimbabwe!
The Daily Maverick were one of many to debunk this false claim as the new Minister was in fact born and raised in South Africa.
A similar campaign of rumours is spreading across social media claiming that Minister Gwarube is going to phase out Maths Literacy (Maths Lit) next year.
Examples on social media include:
"Their (sic) even phasing out maths lit while we are at it" - "Poetic Hun"
"I heard that mathematical literacy is being phased out I'm worried because I'm majoring in that subject" - "anonymous participant"
"They are phasing out Maths lit next year" - "Andisiza"
There are no official statements from the new Minister that she wants to phase out Maths Lit and it was not even one of the policies that the Democratic Alliance published in their manifesto before the recent elections.
Although critical of the ANC government's performance in the area of education, the DA manifesto was focused on improving literacy through more time spent on the subjects and increased testing. There was no mention at all of phasing out Maths Lit as a way to improve literacy in mathematics.
In addition, even if it had been the policy of the DA, the fact that a member of the DA is now the Minister for Basic Education does not give her a free hand to implement whatever policies she, or her political party, wish.
Speaking to the media since her appointment, Minister Gwarube has identified eradicating pit latrines as a top priority and a full curriculum review as being important. So new statements about phasing out Maths Lit!
When some new Ministers started telling the media what their priorities would be for the new parliament, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni was quick to remind them of the correct process.
First there is the Cabinet Lekogtla which will be held on the 11th and 12th July. That's when plans for the government as a whole, and individual departments will be established and priorities set. These priorities must align with the National Development Plan that was approved in 2012. So only then will each Department's priorities be finalised.
So there are no plans to phase out Maths Lit - and just because the Minister wants to improve literacy levels in young South Africans doesn't mean she would want to remove the subject.
This is clearly one of those rumours that someone started on social media and is now sitting back and smiling as they watch is spread widely and wildly!
Articles About Maths Literacy
- What Can I become With Maths Literacy?
- What's The Difference Betwen Pure Maths and Maths Lit?
- What Are The Highest Paying Jobs With Maths Literacy?
- Is Maths Literacy Easy?
- Difference Between Maths Lit and Technical Maths
- Which Matric Subjects Are Needed For Teaching?"
- Which Grade 12 Maths Should I Take?
