Sometime time ago in Mitchells Plain, an Imam told me a sad story. They had a ladies-only event at the mosque, and a teenage girl visited the toilet, where she saw a person in complete hijab. Sadly, it was not a woman, and the man in hijab tried to assault the teen. Her fight-back foiled his intended crime.
Since criminals hiding behind face covering is common and since we live in an extremely violent society, I am opposed to any form of face covering whatsoever in public. We have some of the highest murder, rape, child abuse, violent crime, alcohol and drug addiction rates in the world.
Staying with toilet issues, the National Education Department wants to integrate school toilets. Oddly, many rural schools do not even have toilets, and kids must use the disgusting pit latrines.
I suggest the Education Department focus on what is essential. For example, matric exam papers are often “leaked”. What happened to those who “sold” the maths paper two years ago? The Education Minister flip-flopped about rewrites, and learners prepared, and rewrites did not happen. This caused serious trauma, and nobody has been held accountable. Why?
Every year, thousands of learners are not allocated to school for months because of a lack of space. Gauteng and other Education Department computer systems often fail when parents try to register kids for the new school year. What about learners bullying and assaulting, and murdering others?
Those “educationist” with nothing better to do but talk about integrating toilets should consider the impact on teenagers. What kind of girl wants to use a toilet with boys inside the same toilet? Since when is using the toilet a group activity? Already we have a teen pregnancy epidemic in South Africa. Also, does the Education Minister and those females at HQ share a toilet with their male colleagues?
I suggest the creation of a National Department of Reason and Logic (NDRL), which all other departments must consult before making ignorant utterances and performing dumb actions.
For example, what happened to the minister who, during the worst load shedding, wanted to light up a flag pole for R20 million after spending R1 million on an investigation? Also, the minister who said that police must shoot first and ask questions later must explain how to question a dead suspect.
Many departments and municipalities cannot get clean audits but our government has made the integration of toilets a priority. As a nation we have tolerated decades of corruption and mismanagement of taxpayers' money, the levels of stupidity and arrogance must be stopped.
* Cllr Yagyah Adams, Cape Muslim Congress.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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