Schools were not ready to safely start phased reopening - Minister Angie Motshekga

The Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga apologised this morning for the last minute decision to delay the phased opening of schools until the 8th of June. Motshekga says the decision was based on reports she received this weekend, visits to some schools and a series of consultations with unions, headmasters and provincial education ministers. Provinces that have been identified as ready to reopen were the Western Cape and Gauteng, with the Free State, North Western province, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape at medium readiness and Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Kwazulu-Natal regarded to be at a high risk and had a low level of readiness. She said the education sector needed another week to 'mop up' the schools that were not ready for re-opening. - Linda van Tilburg