An event hosted by the KwaZulu-Natal department of education to celebrate the 2023 NSC Exam Results has sparked accusations of abuse of public resources for electioneering purposes.
The event was hosted on May 20 at the ICC in Durban.
An invite from the department about the event said, “The Minister of Basic Education, Ms Angie Motshekga is going to join the MEC for education in KwaZulu-Natal Ms Mbali Frazer to preside over the Provincial District Awards Ceremony taking place at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Conference Centre (ICC) in Durban.
“This Awards Ceremony follows the ground-breaking performance by the KwaZulu-Natal in the 2023 National Senior Certificate Examination Results, which saw the province obtaining 86.4%; and taking second position after the Free State,” it said.
In the same invite, MEC Frazer is quoted as saying, “We are very excited to finally have this opportunity to celebrate all the men and women who contributed to our excellent performance as a province. The provincial awards ceremony is a culmination of many awards ceremonies that have been taking place in all our 12 Districts.”
But DA education spokesperson Dr Imran Keeka said this is nothing short of blatant ANC electioneering using public resources, pointing out that this comes four months after the NSC results were released.
“The MEC and her department held a NSC results event immediately after the results were released in January. To host yet another event using much-needed funding to ensure our schools function properly, pay their bills, and improve the quality of education is a political stunt aimed at garnering votes, inside and around the sector, which must be condemned,” Keeka said.
Department spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said the concerns were unfounded. “How is acknowledging the good work done by officials and educators electioneering. The recipient of the tokens are happy to be recognised, period.”
The Mercury