South Africa had a ”persisting inability” to deal with the legacy of inferior health, education and other social infrastructure for working-class communities, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Saturday.
”[This] renders us unable to eradicate the economic and social distortions we inherited from the apartheid economy and society,” he said at the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Nompumelelo High School, in the Sada township, in the Eastern Cape.
”Post-1994 is better than pre-1994. But most of our gains have been political,” said Vavi.
While provincial initiatives like the school feeding programme had started having a real impact, they need national and not just provincial financial support.
Other areas in need of attention were skills shortages, the migration of skilled labour to big cities and strategies to retain scarce skills.
”Above all, the huge inequalities in the educational system developed under apartheid persist, although they now align with class, not just race,” said Vavi.
”The upper class is still largely white, which means that, because you can buy a good education these days, race and class will continue to be tied together in the future.
”Some three quarters of managers are still white — and half of university students. Meanwhile, schools like Nompumelelo have to struggle with inadequate textbooks and facilities.”
Every year, over a million pupils started school, but in 2007, only 400 000 made it to matric, he said.
”Most of the drop-outs left because they couldn’t afford to pay for fees or uniforms, or because they were discouraged by the poor quality of education and because high unemployment robbed them of hope.
”Of those who took matric, only two thirds passed. That means close to 150 000 failed.
”And few of those who took matric made it into university. The university exemption rate is 15%. But the inequalities are so stark. Only 12% of Africans who take matric get a university exemption, compared to half of white learners.”
Vavi said the racial divide reflected economic inequalities.
”School fees maintain deep class differences between schools in the leafy suburbs and those in the townships or, even worse, rural areas.
”Working class children cannot afford the school fees charged at the former whites-only schools. Black learners who can afford a Model C school pass matric; those who can only afford historically black schools are fighting an uphill battle.”
The ”historical” factors behind these inequalities went back to the subjugation of the black South Africans and their impoverishment under decades of apartheid and colonialism.
”Factors that speak to this history include the appalling quality of buildings in historically black schools, close to half of which still lack electricity.
”We continue to have shortages of textbooks and stationery.” There was also a continuing shortage of teachers.
These shortcomings fed into and arose from an ”intolerable” level of unemployment.
”Unemployment is high because the economy is not creating jobs, reflecting low levels of investment and the emphasis on capital-intensive industries like metals, auto and heavy chemicals.
”It reflects highly concentrated ownership that prevents growth in other sectors. It has been aggravated by the downsizing of the public service.
”Unless we address these challenges, no amount of skills development will lead to job creation,” Vavi said. – Sapa