Just how unpleasant a poisoned chalice has the DA's Siviwe Gwarube - now the new Minister of Basic Education - been handed?

Listen to this article 6 min Listen to this article 6 min You could ask the same question the other way around - how much power does a minister actually have? Or perhaps - why on earth did the ANC choose Education, the department with the largest budget and arguably the most significance, as the department it was prepared to grant to its GNU partner, the DA?

I think I know why: they are aware that the job is impossible. Or at least it was for them. After all, despite being well regarded in the sector, Angie Motshekga - who held the job for 15 years - saw the results from SA's education system dip lower and lower in nearly any ranking you choose to examine.

Just consider, for a second, the odds stacked against Siviwe Gwarube. For a start, from an "outcomes" point of view, the ANC's record in running the department has been gobsmackingly disastrous. That's hardly a surprise given the level of maladministration overall, but it was unexpected because it's the one thing you might expect the ANC to have prioritised.

We have a problem

So how bad is it? The indications are formal, informal, anecdotal and...