South Africa’s education system gets a score of 30%

MTN’s Group Chief Technology and Information Officer, Charles Molapisi, said that he is haunted by the poor quality of education in South Africa.

He shared his views about South Africa’s government and its education system in an interview with Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh on the SMWX podcast.

“I am haunted by the quality of education in South Africa. That is one of the most basic foundations of a prospering nation,” he said.

He said that people cannot get out of the gate without education and the competence that comes from it.

“You can open opportunities and offer support, but if you do not address the foundational education layer, it will not work,” he said.

“The educational foundation is really what haunts me. As a nation, we probably should give ourselves a 3 out of 10 on that.”

He added that the poor performance may not be due to a lack of trying, but rather to the education system not delivering.

“So that worries me. There are many other things one could talk about, but if you have to fix a nation, you have to fix the fundamentals,” he said.

“We have to agree as a nation on the most fundamental things that get us out of the gate and empower our people.”

He added that if South Africa were an athlete, it would most likely struggle at the regional level and fail to qualify for the Olympics.

To resolve the problems in South Africa, he said, it should start with fixing the foundational layer of education.

He added that local government leaders and municipal officials must be systematically trained, equipped, and held accountable.

“Running public entities requires deep operational competence, including budget management, ethics, project governance, and scorecard measurement,” he said.

He called for instilling rigorous corporate-style training for public servants to ensure proper service delivery.