(Debate in Parliament)
For the Gong-Gong Griqua community near Barkly West in the Northern Cape, the desire for a school is about much more than just having a school.
For them, it is about a community that wants to retain its identity, build an economy, have certainty when it comes to landownership and raise its children in this context. The FF Plus supports this ideal even though a parliamentary report advises against the construction of a school for Gong-Gong.
For years, it has been the government's policy to integrate smaller, rural schools into larger town-based schools instead of ensuring the survival and sustainability of the rural schools. It, however, means, among other things, that transport to these larger schools must be provided.
In contrast, the FF Plus's policy is that schools are an integral part of the community and that schools should be situated as close to the children's homes as possible. It makes perfect sense, specifically in the case of a clearly defined community as opposed to homes that are scattered over a large area.
The ANC's policy of centralising schools and transport caused many additional unforeseen problems with the Covid-19 crisis. It is difficult to comply with the requirement to maintain social distance in buses and classrooms. Thus, schools that are situated closer to their homes and to which children can easily and safely walk are nowadays more attractive than they were just one year ago.
Gong-Gong has a well-established community that has been residing in its current location for many years. And yet the land does not belong to the people. The land was bought from the community by the state in 1986 and under the current municipal dispensation, it was transferred to the Dikgatlong Local Municipality.
The Municipality treats the residents of Gong-Gong, a close-knit and socially coherent community, as tenants living on municipal land. This in no way contributes to the community's sense of security when it comes to where they live or their willingness to invest in their own region.
Although the community did have its own school for many years, it burnt down in 1988. And ever since then all their efforts to once again have a school of their own have been in vain.
The Northern Cape Department of Education argues that it is more effective to transport the children to schools in the nearby vicinity. However, the discussion contained many conflicting statements about how many children there are.
The Department states that there are 30 primary-school and 48 high-school children, but members of the community maintain that the number of children in question add up to about 450 or more. Some of the best performing schools in the Northern Cape have approximately 300 children when the primary and high schools are combined.
Seeing as a school is not just an educational institution, but an organ of every community – one without which a community cannot reach its full social, economic and cultural potential – the FF Plus supports the Griqua community of Gong-Gong in their endeavour.
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