The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) President and Commander-in-Chief, Julius Malema, has called for schools to close immediately and has given Basic Education Minister 7 days to announce this.
During the EFF Presser hosted at EFF offices, Malema said:
Following the announcement of the Third Wave, under the rising number of infections we call on immediate closure of contact learning.
He then went on to say, "There is no reason to force contact learning because already there are rising infections amongst young people and children, which are disrupting schools. To ensure a fast move beyond the Third Wave, schools must be closed."
The pandemic is ripping apart the country and is also interrupting schooling, said Malema. The political party leader said that he doesn't want to stand by and watch children die.
Schools must close and they must close with immediate effect. We give the Minister seven days to close schools.
The EFF President then threatened that they’ll have to close schools themselves as the EFF if Motshekga doesn't meet their deadline.
Malema then went on to say that he has seen children being turned away due to someone at the school testing positive and having to then quarantine for two weeks, even with his own children.
It is now clear that it's attacking kids now, where is the Minister of Education? Who heard from the Minister of Education? What type of Government is this if Minister of Education is sick, they are alleging that she's got cancer, why are we not being told?
He then deduces that this is so that "we are not hard on her".
eNCA reported, "South Africa has recorded a worrying 8,881 new COVID-19 cases. Despite that schools will be going ahead with normal learning. But parents and other groups have expressed their concerns amid the third wave."
As of 26 July, primary schools will no longer use the rotational timetable and all learners will soon be returning to class full-time at full capacity. There have been mixed reactions to this from different unions.
Fears are split between Covid spreading from learners to teachers and from learners to their communities and then losing more teaching time and losing out on curriculum for the second year in a row.
#EFFPresser addressed by CIC @Julius_S_Malema https://t.co/xL99EXrwDE
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) June 10, 2021
