Address by: The Hon. Mr. Narend Singh MPP
Minister of Education and Culture; KwaZulu-Natal

The Programme Director, Mr. AM Mthethwa; the Hon Prince of KwaZiphethe, Minister of Social Welfare and Population Development; Members of the Royal Family present; Inkosi MK Ntuli and all Amakhosi; Izinduna and Members of Traditional Authorities present; the Rev. Father SV Ncube and other Ministers of Religion; Your Worship the Mayors and Councillors; the Superintendent of Mbongolwana Hospital; the Senior Manager for Ulundi Region of the Department of Education and Culture, Mr. W. Dorkin; Managers and other officials of the Department; the Chairperson and Parents of Machotshaneni Primary School; the Principal, staff and learners of the school; distinguished guests; the community of Eshowe.

It is a priviledge for me to be among you on this very momentous occasion. Today we witness a milestone event in the life of this community. We are gathered to officially open Machotshaneni Primary School as a place where the future of this community and indeed of the whole Province will be plotted. As we have heard from the Chairperson of the School Governing Body, the history of this school dates as far back as 1918. It was a partnership between the community and the church that brought about the beginning of this school.

This partnership highlights the good that can result when different sectors of our communities cooperate for the welfare of the Province and the country. Since I assumed my position of Minister of Education and Culture in this Province, I have stressed the importance of such partnerships involving government, the private sector and communities. 

I must on this occasion salute the Rev. Father Mathew Erunner and Lay Preacher Andreas Mazeka for their contributions towards the building of this school. These leaders of the Church serve as an indication that, despite evil colonial intentions of some Churches that came to this country to connive with our oppressors, there are those whose examples are a living testimony that indeed Jesus Christ was for peace and development.

Programme Director, my Department will forever be grateful for cooperation and help that many religious organisations are rendering to education. I am here reminded also of contributions which organisations like Divine Life Society have made in the building of schools in this Province. 

Allow me also to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the Prince of KwaZiphethe for the sterling work he has been doing for decades to build schools in this area. I am aware that the Eshowe Community Group formerly known as Eshowe Christian Action Group, of which he is Chairperson, contributed about five classrooms in this school. Ndabezitha we are highly indebted to you for this service to the nation. Indeed you are a living example of how Royalty must conduct themselves as God-decreed leaders and servants of the people of KwaZulu. I believe that the spirits of all the past kings of this nation are very much impressed Ndabezitha with your dedication to your people.

Programme Director, I have learnt also of the tireless struggles by this community under the leadership of Mr. NF Biyela, the school Principal and his committee, to ensure that there was a school in their area. The community here pulled themselves by their own bootstraps and contributed to the building of three classrooms. What more evidence do we need that through unity driven by self-help and self-reliance, even the poorest can defy the worst adversity to achieve the apparently unachievable! I am very proud of this community. They stand as irrefutable evidence that no mountain is too high for a community seriously committed to a goal. 

So Emachotshaneni is indeed a product of cooperation and partnership we desperately need in this Province if we are to move forward. 

Distinguished guests, let me state that more than ever before, we need the partnership now between our Department and religious leaders. As you all know, our schools are under siege from marauding criminals who have turned our schools into havens for drug-dealers. Worse still, criminals masquerading as learners threaten and harass both teachers and learners with guns and other dangerous weapons. 

These are the challenges which I say, call for more than just police intervention. I argue that these evils are a clear indication of a nation that has lost all sense of ubuntu and human worth. In addition to police and legal interventions, we also call for moral regeneration. This is where religious and cultural revival campaigns must come in.

While on this point let me urge all learners and teachers of this school and surrounding schools, and indeed all learners and teachers of KwaZulu-Natal, not to succumb to any form of evil. Say: 'No, to drugs and dangerous weapons!' I call on you to employ the same spirit of resilience and tenacity that multitudes of our young people displayed against the evil of apartheid oppression. You must move forward as one united front to root our drug-trafficking, guns, rapes and all forms of evil from our schools. 

Let us reclaim our schools as centres of learning, excellence and discipline. I say to you: if you allow criminals to destroy your future by disrupting education, you may as well resign yourself to forever being ruled by other racial groups because they are serious about education. Unless you reclaim your fundamental right to education, you must forever resign yourselves to being unskilled servants and workers who will remain at the bottom of the ladder of progress with no hope whatsoever to climb to the top.

This is my message as we open this school. The same message goes to parents. I say to parents we did not wage the struggle against the mightiest army in Africa, only to succumb to hooligans and criminals. Stand up and root out criminals from among our midst. Work with law-enforcement agencies to stop criminals in their tracks.

As parents, it is our God-given responsibility first and foremost to nurture, protect and educate our children. That is why I treat with contempt any parent who abdicates their responsibilities leaving teachers alone to risk their lives. It is shameful that some parents regard schools as dumping grounds where they dump children whom they think are troublesome. Indeed some parents do not even bother to attend school meetings to discuss about the future of their children. You must not be a parent unless and until you are ready to shoulder responsibilities thereof.

Likewise, I urge our teachers to be more dedicated to their work. Teachers are at the forefront of the nation's struggle for complete liberation; liberation from ignorance, illiteracy and lack of skills. Our freedom will remain hollow unless our learners, youth and our people in general acquire education, knowledge and skills that will make them employable and, more importantly, able to create employment. We cannot achieve these noble objectives unless we have teachers who are committed to the cause. I say that our teachers, working with parents and learners must strive to turn all schools into centre of excellence.

There are schools in the deep rural areas that have continued to produce excellent results and outstanding learners despite lack of high quality facilities and infrastructure. I am not at all saying this in order to justify poor conditions under which these schools operate. Rather, I am highlighting this to drive the point home that cooperation, dedication and diligence can enable people to triumph over adversity.

The opening of this school is another step we are taking towards the realization of the goal of complete freedom. Yes it may not be a giant step; but it is a step. As the Department we are committed to ensuring that slowly but surely we move forward towards completely eradicating ignorance, illiteracy and lack of skills.

It is for this reason that we as Department have committed ourselves to expanding the base of our partners that help us with the building of schools. In addition to the Department of Public Works which is our primary partner, we are looking at other partners in the private sector in order to maximize delivery of classrooms.