The Democratic Alliance (DA) has filed court papers on Wednesday 29 July in a bid to to proove the announcement made by President Cyril Ramaphosa that public schools be forced to take a four-week break  as “unconstitutional, unlawful, and not binding”. DA’s shadow ministers for Higher and Basic Education, Belinda Bozzoli and  Nomsa Marchesi said that they have submitted an affidavit has been submitted to the North gauteng High Court on Wednesday in which they outline the reasons why they believe Ramaphosa’s announcement instructs no obligation upon schools to close.
“The Democratic Alliance (DA) has today filed an affidavit with the North Gauteng Division of the High Court to seek an order declaring the President’s announcement last week on the closure of schools as unlawful, unconstitutional and not binding,” they said.
“President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that public schools would close for the duration of four weeks has not yet been published in the Government Gazette. The DA is therefore of the view that the announcement has no legal effect and that schools should therefore technically not have closed as there is no legal requirement for them to do so.” “The truth is that the word of the President is not law, the law is the law.” “The DA maintains that the closure of schools was a rash and politically motivated decision. It was not a decision taken in the best interest of the academic progress of learners.”