Chairperson,
Honourable Premier – Mr E.S. Mchunu,
Honourable Members of the Legislature,
Colleagues in the Executive,
Head of the Department of Education, Dr Nkosinathi Sishi,
Senior Management of the Department of Education,
Business leadership,
Labour Movement,
Social Partners,
Distinguished guests,
Fellow citizens,
Ladies and gentlemen.
1. Introduction
Chairperson, the Department of Education welcomes the allocated budget of R39, 446 billion for the 2014/15 financial year. The budget is in essence inadequate to address the historical backlogs of the period prior to 1994, although it would be able to fund education in its current form.
Our budget has grown considerably from R26,119 billion in 2009/10, to where we are today. Our analysis of the financial situation though indicates that needs grow faster than the historical growth of the budget. Both the Education and Finance portfolio Committees concede that real educational needs far outweigh the budgetary inputs.
Chairperson, in his 2009 State of the Nation Address, His Excellency President JG Zuma aptly declared that: “Education is a societal matter”. In 2014, the President further outlined his vision of a "radical socio-economic transformation‟ premised on the notion that quality education is critical to drive South Africa forward.
Full speech [PDF].
