Amid criticism of government over private citizens providing service delivery, basic education minister Angie Motshekga says collaboration is at the heart of what makes SA great.
On Friday Motshekga welcomed Anglo American’s investment of R510m in education to assist dozens of schools and early childhood development centres, and thousands of teachers and students.
The investment will go to 84 schools and about 80 early childhood development centres in Limpopo, Northern Cape and North West over the next five years.
Speaking to TimesLIVE, Motshekga said private citizens collaborating with government was for the betterment of the country and there was no need to “point fingers”.
“It’s a partnership thing, it’s a societal issue. It takes a village to raise a child. The private sector is part of the village. Parents are part of the village. Community members are part of the village, and we are all in this together.
“There is no question of finger pointing or saying someone has failed. It is all our responsibility. I am glad the private sector has come to the party in a big way and provided us with support and innovation. The private sector enriches the sector, not ‘fills the gap’.”
She said her department was grateful for the assistance and “wouldn’t touch a cent” of the R510m.
“Fortunately for us, we don’t even touch a cent. The only thing we do is provide support from the outside. In terms of how Anglo American procures, they use their own internal systems so no money will be exchanged.”
According to Motshekga, the budget for each school will depend on its needs.
“Some schools have bigger needs for infrastructure. What informs the expenditure is what is being done at that particular school.”
Anglo American global head of education and community skills Zaheera Soomar told TimesLIVE local procurement was key to the investment.
“We report to the basic education department the components we spend the money on so we know the size and how much is being spent on things such as infrastructure versus education development.
“All service providers we use need to be registered and local to our host communities. We want to promote and support local SMME development,” said Soomar.
Last week, government was criticised by some after Gift of the Givers sponsored a borehole for the Elizabeth Donkin Hospital in Gqeberha.
The borehole was welcomed by water and sanitation minister Senzo Mchunu, Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane and Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Eugene Johnson.
Many citizens, including former DA leader Lindiwe Mazibuko, actor Jack Devnarain and media personality Redi Tlhabi, said government should be ashamed of itself for watching citizens deliver services.
“Please delete this tweet. This is deeply shameless. Gift of the Givers does the job they should have done. All they can do is show up for vibes and hashtags,” said Mazibuko.
“I’m curious to know how ANC voters feel when they see their people, who run government services, celebrating borehole donations from an NGO funded by donations, grants and so on. How is this toxic relationship working for you?” asked Tlhabi.
Devnarain said: “This isn’t a celebration of a sponsored borehole. It’s the most glorious self-own ever to be captured in a tweet by the most reliably hopeless and shameless political party a divided nation could produce.”
TimesLIVE
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