Public protector Thuli Madonsela has called for a campaign aimed at getting pupils in Kuruman, Northern Cape to go back to school, her office said on Sunday.
"The women of Kuruman should step up and stand out as the voice of reason to influence and inspire others to appreciate that while government's alleged failure to keep a promise may be wrong...," Madonsela said in a statement.
"... and possibly constitute maladministration, holding children at ransom and denying them an education is worse than wrong."
She was addressing women lawyers as the breakfast guest of Kingdom House of Dominion Christian Centre, in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
Madonsela called on the rest of patriotic South Africans to do all they could to get the children of Kuruman back to school immediately.
A group calling themselves the Road Forum began protesting in June demanding that a 130km stretch of road in the John Taolo Gaetsewe district municipality be tarred. The protesters were barring pupils and staff from going to school to get the attention of the authorities.
In that month, Northern Cape premier Sylvia Lucas's spokesman Monwabisi Nkompela said the tender to tar the road was opened on June 12 and closed on July 18.
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.