The School Governing Body Council South Africa (SGBCSA) called on Premier Stan Mathabatha to sack Limpopo MEC for Education Polly Boshielo, following the disappointing matric results of the province. Limpopo ended up with the lowest matric pass rate in the country, dropping 1,5% from last year to 66,7%.
Mr Erick Mosoana, provincial chairperson of the council, described Boshielo as a "noise maker", saying this "mediocre" politician could not succeed in properly leading the education department. "The Department of Education has for the past three years been on autopilot," said Mosoana. He promised that the council will use occasions such as the State of the Province Address to picket and demand that Boshielo be removed.
Boshielo, however, said she was more impressed with the quality of the results than quantity. During the official announcement of the provincial matric results on 21 January at The Ranch Hotel, she said that the matric results of 2021 had suffered the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. She said that learning deficits that had existed prior to the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 had also had an impact on learning and teaching. Boshielo said that the group of 2022 suffered a double blow and had to deal with the harsh reality of Covid-19 for two consecutive academic years.
Mr Risham Maharaj, acting DA Limpopo spokesperson for education, said Premier Stan Mathabatha should keep his promise to hold Boshielo accountable for the poor performance. "The 2021 matric results are a 1.5 percentage point decline from the 2020 results and follow a pattern of regression in the province's performance," said Maharaj.