Chairperson, Cope calls on the Minister for Co- operative Governance and Traditional Affairs as well as the Ministers of Basic Education and Public Works to intervene urgently to resolve the unfortunate interruption of the electricity supply to public schools in the Tshwane Metro Council area during a period when learners were writing their examinations.
Apparently, the electricity cuts are the result of nonpayment of property tax by the Department of Public Works. In some cases, the property arrears amount to hundreds of thousands of rand. The Tshwane Metro Council has reportedly entered into an agreement with the Department of Public Works to pay the arrear amounts on property tax by 1 August this year, which, to the best of our knowledge, has not been done. We call on the relevant Ministers to stop the blame game and to accept accountability to resolve this serious problem as a matter of urgency.
Government is failing school-going children. Schools need all the support they can get from government to ensure that children are able to write their exams without these additional frustrations and unacceptable disruptions. And, while I have the floor, I would like to emphasise that we are not happy with the absence of Ministers and we hope that the Speaker will indeed look into this. Thank you. [Interjections.]