Abstract
ABSTRACT The South African Constitution mandates the radical transformation of the public basic education system. To that end, the Constitution, read with the South African Schools Act, entrenches a right of equal access to quality basic education for all. The substantive approach to equality, rooted in the transformative ideology of the Constitution, necessitates an acknowledgment and overcoming of the past patterns of disadvantage, based primarily on the grounds of race and socio-economic class. Locating my analysis in "quality education" in the United Nations Report, "Normative action for quality education", I find that the definition of "quality education" involves a holistic approach which encompasses learners' level of academic achievement, the provision of an adequate school infrastructure, a well-qualified teaching profession, and schools that embrace a substantive form of democracy. In examining each of these indicators, I find the emergence of a clear pattern: for black and/or poor South African learners in the public school domain, disadvantage manifests in an unequal access to quality education. Keywords: South African Constitution, transformation, basic education, unequal access, race , socio-economic class, black and poor, patterns of disadvantage, quality education, holistic approach.
Highlights
The end of the Cold War in the early 1990s saw a wave of democratic decentralisation sweeping across Africa
In what appears to be by design rather than coincidence, most of the suspended and dismissed mayors were aligned to the opposition political party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
As is the case in most parts of the world, mayors are the face of urban local government in Zimbabwe
Summary
The end of the Cold War in the early 1990s saw a wave of democratic decentralisation sweeping across Africa. The suspension and dismissal of mayors in Zimbabwe seem to be less a reflection of genuine supervision but more a manifestation of power politics at play. In this regard, local government supervision has turned out to be a powerful tool for gaining political advantage at the disposal of the ZANU-PF led national government.. The control of urban municipalities by opposition parties heightens prospects for a power struggle and amplifies the tension between national government and mayors This explains why the frequency of harassment, suspension and dismissal intensified and the role of mayors was reviewed after the MDC took control of major urban councils in the early 2000s. The discussion ends with concluding remarks drawing general observations and policy implications
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