Any efforts to sustainably improve the education system without first addressing corruption will be like pouring water on sand. Gwarube therefore has to begin by tackling Sadtu and improving accountability.

Listen to this article 14 min Listen to this article 14 min After 15 years, South Africa has a new Minister of Basic Education - and she has been tasked with arguably the most challenging portfolio in the new administration.

The office is a significant position of power - it holds the largest budget and is incredibly high profile - and yet is not without its limitations, as provincial concurrent competencies and political leadership will considerably curtail her powers.

Minister Siviwe Gwarube faces the unrelenting task of addressing deeply embedded inequality as a direct result of apartheid - as well as the added challenge of rebuilding an education system that Mmusi Maimane has noted "Verwoerd would be proud of".

The challenge, of course, is where to begin. In a system that has been set back by Covid, budget cuts and teacher retirement challenges, it is tempting to focus on the latest urgent crisis.

However, if the new minister is to systematically overhaul the system and build one that can sustainably serve all learners irrespective of their backgrounds, this cannot continue to be the case.

Granted, the minister will need a clear set of short-term priorities that will secure early...