No public funds must end up in officials’ pockets, warns Gwarube

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube and AVBOB group CEO Carl van der Riet at the AVBOB Road to Literacy campaign launch in Sandton. Photo: Zanele Siso of Zanephoto

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Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube will do what it takes to ensure that no public funds end up in the pockets of officials. The Minister also believes that, for South Africa to improve its foundational literacy levels, it should follow suit with the world’s most developed economies by investing more funds in the foundational phase of education.

Gwarube, a Democratic Alliance minister in the Government of National Unity, was speaking at the AVBOB Road to Literacy campaign in which the company gives hope annually to more than 1 000 schools and NGOs in the education sector through the donation of trolley libraries together with reading material.

“If we are to attain good literacy levels in our school system, government needs to spend more funds in the foundation phase of our education. If we can do that by investing our money where our mouth is, the rest will follow. This is the path that has been taken by most developed economies worldwide and that approach is paying dividends for them,” Gwarube said.

In addition to spend more on the foundational phase of education, Gwarube said government needs to look after its school infrastructure and ensure the environment was conducive to learning and teaching. “Education cannot thrive in an environment that is not safe,” she added.

“As Minister, I am committed to ensuring that public funds are used for the work they are supposed to do. I am very careful when it comes to the use of public funds and I want to ensure that the funds do the work they are earmarked to do and not end up in somebody’s or official’s pocket,” Gwarube said.

She defended the curriculum and said ‘in many instances it is priorities we choose sometimes that tend to lead us astray. If we can get our ducks in a row and spend wisely within the right priorities, we can achieve phenomenal outcomes’.

On the AVBOB Road to Literacy campaign, Gwarube remarked; “This initiative is a powerful example of what can be achieved through partnerships. The campaign addresses a pressing national priority, the development of foundational literacy and numeracy, while supporting policy frameworks aimed at integrating diversity into school curricula. It does so in a way that honours South Africa’s linguistic and
cultural richness, ensuring that no child is left behind.”

AVBOB group CEO Carl van der Riet said although the campaign has grown substantially, its original purpose is to provide access to quality education materials, dignity and hope for a better future. “Literacy and numeracy are academic skills and
critical tools for participation, for opportunity, and dignity,” he said.

“These are the building blocks of future learning and how children are empowered to shape their own lives. The AVBOB Road to Literacy campaign embodies our belief that meaningful social investment must be both practical and purpose driven,” Van der Riet added. He said since 2022, the campaign has evolved from a pilot initiative into one of the most extensive mobile library programmes in the country, noting that educational experts have long advocated for mother tongue instruction at the early stages of schooling.

“Research has consistently shown that when children learn to read in their home language, they are more likely to stay in school, perform better academically, and transition successfully to additional languages later in life,” Van der Riet said. Van der Riet said despite this, access to books in African languages remains limited,
especially in underfunded schools. The Road to Literacy campaign helps address this gap, ensuring that the joy of reading, and the practical foundation of numeracy, is not restricted by geography or circumstance.

Each trolley library is valued at R57 000, bringing the total investment for the 2025 campaign to R57 million. The trolleys are designed to be mobile, durable, and easy to access in shared or under-resourced learning environments. Along with books that promote reading for enjoyment, they include materials designed to develop numeracy, making the campaign one of the few national projects focused on both reading and mathematics at the foundational phase.

AVBOB’s partner organisation, the Oxford University Press South Africa’s managing director Karen Simpson described the partnership as reflecting the organisation’s core belief that literacy is a foundation for lifelong learning and opportunity.
“Access to books in a learner’s mother tongue has a profound impact on their ability to grasp foundational concepts, stay engaged in the classroom, and remain in the education system.

“We are steadfast on publishing our books in all of South Africa’s official written languages, and the AVBOB Road to Literacy campaign enables us to place these resources directly in the hands of the learners who need them most,” Simpson said.