The 63-year-old Catholic Bishop advocates for “beefing up education” in South Africa, arguing that such a move would contribute to effective decentralization of the country’s economic activity and inclusion of many more people in wealth creation.
Beefing-up education, he says, “must include a system of educating children according to their ability instead of forcing all children into a high school system and setting up more than half of them for failure.”
Bishop Sipuka goes on to say that beefing up education can go a long way in helping address lawlessness in South Africa, which he says is manifested in bullying and Gender-based violence (GBV) and that it is becoming rampant in the country.
“Beefing up education must therefore include educating children and parents about the Constitution, ensuring that people understand that freedom does not mean that one can do what one likes and infringe on other people's freedom,” the Catholic Bishop who has been at the helm of Mthatha Diocese since his Episcopal Consecration in May 2008 says.
The Local Ordinary of Mthatha Diocese who doubles as the President of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) emphasizes the need to find solutions for societal evils that have enslaved South Africans over the years.
“If we correct the misdeeds of those in leadership, remove the conditions that make for corruption, decentralize the economy, and educate all citizens with skills and values, then the next decade of freedom will see us being better than we are as a country,” he says.
The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State (Zondo Commission) brought to the fore South Africa’s “misdeeds” and deeply embedded in corruption that affected the economy, Bishop Sipuka says in his April 27 statement that was shared with ACI Africa.
Silas Mwale Isenjia is a Kenyan journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communication from Moi University in Kenya. Silas has vast experience in the Media production industry. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.
