DA to head to court over closure of schools
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will take legal action against Cabinet’s decision to close public schools for four weeks in August.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Thursday that schools will be temporarily closed in August as the country heads into the Covid-19 peak.
The DA’s interim leader John Steenhuisen said on Friday that the party will approach the courts on an urgent basis.
“The Democratic Alliance strongly opposes the decision by President Ramaphosa to close the nation’s public schools for four weeks. We will be approaching the courts, on the basis that it is politically rather than scientifically motivated and not in the best interests of South Africa’s 14 million schoolchildren.”
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Government’s decision to close schools, as the country prepares for a surge in Covid-19 numbers in August, came amid intense pressure by some unions in the sector.
Steenhuisen believes that this decision was largely influenced by the country’s biggest union, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu).
“The decision to close schools is rather a result of the ANC capitulating to all-powerful teachers’ unions, in particular Sadtu, who do not have the best interests of learners at heart.”