Rise Mzansi Youth has called on young adults and the youth to elect new leaders who can prioritise providing services instead of compromising education. Picture: Timothy Bernard African News Agency (ANA)
In the wake of the glaring failure to provide the basic services in schools resulting in unnecessary closures, Rise Mzansi Youth has called on young adults and the youth to elect new leaders who can prioritise providing services instead of compromising education.
With the national and provincial elections in the country less than 20 days away, the young organisation has reminded South Africans that the country was in a water crisis which was expected to intensify in the coming years should nothing be addressed.
Lawrence Manaka, Rise Mzansi youth and student chapters convenor, said while South Africans had made do with intermittent provision of electricity, one thing they could not live without was water.
Manaka said it was with this in mind that the organisation was calling for the youth to elect new leaders who could provide clean water and adequate sanitation.
“Thirty years into democracy learners are being stripped of their right to education and are being forced to play in sewage. We believe that education opportunities for learners are being compromised by water cuts and shortages, which have resulted in unnecessary school closures.
“More young people are experiencing what it’s like for those who do not yet have a tap in their home 30 years after the ANC came to power,” Manaka stressed as he highlighted the findings of the recent report by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS).
The DWS report released in 2023, indicated that numerous water delivery systems were not operating at or near-maximum capacity, with substantial monitoring and compliance deficiencies across a number of provinces.
Manaka said while all of this was taking place, the governing ANC instead of addressing those challenges plaguing schools had decided to focus their efforts on passing the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill which promised jail time for parents who did not send their children to school.
“This law is being lauded despite only 12 of the 133 water services authorities being declared in a good or excellent state, while 40 are in a critical state. Yet often learners are forced to relieve themselves in bushes because school toilets don’t have water.”
He added: “Pupils are forced to leave school at 11am, and some must bring water from home to avoid dehydration. The reality is that the gains South Africans have made since 1994 are being reversed at an alarming rate, and the (ANC) leadership chosen to emancipate South Africans has now become the oppressor.”
The Star
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