Pretoria – Cabinet has called on South Africans to walk in Albertina Sisulu’s footsteps and selflessly contribute towards progress in society.
“Cabinet calls upon all of us to walk in her footsteps and celebrate her exemplary citizenship. Indeed, Cabinet conveys its sincere condolences,” Cabinet spokesperson Jimmy Manyi said on Thursday.
Sisulu, 92, died last Thursday in her Linden home.
The funeral will be held at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday and she will be buried next to her husband Walter at the Croesus Cemetery in Industria West.
Her Linden home has been a hive of activity as more and more people come to pay the last respects and leave flowers on the lawn.
On other matters discussed by Cabinet, Manyi said President Jacob Zuma’s visit to the Eastern Cape confirmed the correctness of the Cabinet decision to take over the province’s ailing Department of Education.
Zuma came face-to-face with the shocking state of education in the province this week as teachers and parents opened up about their problems.
Zuma, appalled to hear about the poor state of some schools in the Eastern Cape, grilled the provincial executive on non-delivery.
Manyi said working together with the provincial leadership, an urgent turnaround strategy for the province will be done and the Ministry of Basic Education will in due course report on this matter.
Cabinet was also pleased that government is close to finalising its planned wage increase for state employees for this year, and endorsed the discipline to respect the decision of the Pubic Service Coordinated Bargaining Council (PSCBC) to refrain from negotiating in the media.
Last month, unions announced a deadlock in their negotiations, while Finance Minster Pravin Gordhan said tax revenue was insufficient to fund a pay hike similar to last year’s 7.5 percent wage increase, which followed a protracted strike.
“Government is confident that a settlement will soon be reached despite the challenging nature of the negotiations,” said Manyi. – BuaNews
