Finance Minister Tito Mboweni's Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), delivered yesterday, is devastating for many social services including basic education. The MTBPS says that government will reduce basic education funding every year for the next three years, leading to less money being spent per learner. Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on lives and livelihoods, government will spend money on paying debt, including at mismanaged State-owned enterprises like South African Airways (SAA) and Eskom.
While learners sit in overcrowded classrooms and use unsafe toilets, and school taps run dry, Minister Mboweni has chosen to sacrifice education funding:
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