One South Africa Movement Leader Mmusi Maimane has launched an urgent leave to appeal application on the re-opening of schools at the Constitutional Court.
In the video below, Mmusi Maimane calls on learners and teachers to stay home amid the COVID-19 pandemic:
The North Gauteng High Full bench on the 1 July dismissed Maimane’s application to set aside government’s decision to re-open schools.
In new court papers on the urgent appeal, One South Africa movement says pupils are at risk of contracting the COVID-19 pandemic at school and pose a huge threat of transmitting the virus to their grandparents.
Maimane and his NPO want the ruling of the North Gauteng High Court to be set aside by the apex court on the land.
Bagaetsho I am going back to the @ConCourtSA to protect the lives of children and teachers during this virus surge.
We heard from the @WHO and they were clear. The government may drag their feet on acting but we must do everything we can to protect lives. #closeschoolsnow pic.twitter.com/IZApAHaDok
— Mmusi Maimane (@MmusiMaimane) July 17, 2020
Rising numbers of South Africans infected by the pandemic is also sighted in the court papers that schools must be closed and the high number of fatalities.
Basic Education to consult stakeholders on school reopening
The Basic Education Department said on Thursday that it would begin to consult education stakeholders on keeping schools open as the COVID-19 pandemic intensified in the country.
Minister Angie Motshekga will, at the weekend, present to Cabinet the outcomes of her consultation with the stakeholders.
The Congress of South Africa Trade Unions (Cosatu) also urged Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga to consider the call by teacher union, Sadtu, to close until after the COVID-19 peak.
“The rate of infection is making it difficult to create a conducive environment of learning and teaching in our schools. We should remember that most of our schools are really struggling. They are poorly resourced. They don’t have the infrastructure to make sure that teachers and learners are safe. We believe that this haphazard approach of having other schools opened while others are being forced to shut down is going to perpetuate the inequalities that we see in our education system,” said Cosatu’s Sizwe Pamla.
Department Spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga said on Thursday that schooling had been disrupted in areas with a high number of infections.
