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Deputy President's statement on the DA's call to relieve Gwede Mantashe from Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA)
18 January 2008
Cape Town - The Deputy President Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has dismissed the call by the leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Parliament, Ms Sandra Botha, to remove the Chairperson of the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition Technical Working Group. Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka said she and her team were happy with Mr Gwede Mantashe's contribution and only he would decide whether he wanted to proceed or not with the JIPSA work.
"It would seem that the Honourable Ms Botha does not understand the JIPSA's mandate. We are not going to review JIPSA just because she wants us to do so," said the Deputy President.
With regard to the two matters that Ms Botha alleges JIPSA has failed at, i.e. the improvement of the matric pass rate in Mathematics and Science, and improving the effectiveness of the Sectoral Training Authorities, the Deputy President has directed Ms Botha to the Departments of Education and Labour, who are directly responsible for these.
"If the DA wants to seriously know and understand the nitty-gritty details on JIPSA, it should seriously engage and interact with the JIPSA Secretariat in this regard," says Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka.
For more information please contact:
Thabang Chiloane, Spokesperson of the Deputy President
Cell: 082 8888 783
Issued by:
The Presidency
18 January 2008