A war of words between education authorities and the DA about the delivery of textbooks to Limpopo schools continued on Monday.
In the morning, basic education spokesman Panyaza Lesufi said all Limpopo schools had received their textbooks for the year.
“There is no school in Limpopo that has not received textbooks,” he told reporters in Pretoria.
He rejected earlier assertions by the Democratic Alliance that some schools had not yet received textbooks.
The party should apologise for discrediting the integrity of the department and Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, he said.
“We want to urge the DA by close of business on Friday to retract their statement.”.
However, the DA hit back in the afternoon, insisting that textbooks for core subjects had not been delivered to all Limpopo schools.
“After the DA’s visit to the warehouse, maths books were delivered to the school this weekend, but only in English,” said DA Limpopo leader Desiree van der Walt.
“Books for most of the core subjects remain undelivered.”
Lesufi said in the morning the department's textbook delivery stood at 97.8 percent in Limpopo.
“We are only dealing with claims of over-stock or under-stock. We are just cleaning up. There are no schools that have not received any books.”
He said that at this time last year, no schools in Limpopo had received any books. “We have made a drastic improvement.”
Lesufi said the Duiwelskloof Primary School principal's claims that the school had not received the core books would be investigated.
“There is tangible proof that this school received books,” he said referring to a delivery form with the school's stamp on it.
“There is no way the principal can claim he has not received the books when he has signed for it,” Lesufi said.
Van der Walt said Motshekga had done pupils a disservice by refusing to accept responsibility for textbook shortages in schools.
She disputed the claim that the Duiwelskloof Primary school's principal had signed for textbooks.
“Why would the principal be writing desperate letters to parents apologising for the non-delivery of textbooks in core subjects if the school had already received books?” she asked. - Sapa