6 Wednesday, September 08 2021 CAPE TIMES

COMMENT

DR ZELDA BARENDS EDITORIAL Towards an IEC’S CREDIBILITY, understanding of INDEPENDENCE the foundations PLACED IN DOUBT of literacy

THE Electoral Commission of South LITERACY, a basic human right, is Africa (IEC) has been rightly accused defined as the quality or state of being of reopening the candidate registration literate. Put simply, it refers to the abil- process to favour the ANC, an allega- ity to read and write. Unfortunately, tion which does not bode well for its only some people in our country are independence. able to enjoy the pleasure of being able IEC chairperson Glen Mashinini to read and write adequately. has rejected claims it gave a lifeline to Understanding the intricacies the ANC, which missed the previous and science behind what it entails to deadline, saying it was “reasonably learn to read and write should be our necessary” to amend the timetable. point of departure when attempting He announced September 18 and to address the persistent literacy crisis. 19 as the new voter registration week- Answering fundamental questions end after the Constitutional Court like whether we really understand dismissed its application to postpone what it means to learn to read, and the local government elections. what foundations are needed for any- Echoing Mashinini’s sentiments, one to acquire this skill, could be a vice-chairperson Janet Love said the good place to start. IEC could only act on the basis of the This process is dependent on what court order and within its mandate. happens in early childhood. Our jour- What she says may well be true. But ney towards literacy development given the circumstances in which the How a truly magificent city begins very early. IEC’s decision was taken, it raises sus- The more children know about picions of being in the ANC’s pocket. language and literacy before entering The fact that the governing party the formal schooling system, the bet- withdrew its Electoral Court case to ter equipped they are to succeed in force the reopening of candidate regis- reading. Research reiterates that we tration days before the Constitutional should capacitate young children with Court ruling, does not help matters. rose from the ashes a solid foundation by developing their However, the interpretation of the competency in spoken language. Concourt ruling by the IEC that it In doing so, they will be made aware means they have to reopen candi- St Petersburg never lost its historical and cultural heritage of the sound structure of the language date registrations, seems debatable. Is they speak and learn in, and be able the IEC suggesting that it was legally to find meaning in symbols around impossible to reopen voter registra- COMMENT be at least 20cm. Such thick ice in them. Additionally, it will teach them tions for first-time voters who missed the Bay of Ladoga Lake the value of writing. Activities that the deadline, as well as candidate reg- is formed in 11 days at an average air advance young children’s literacy skills istrations only for first-time voters who temperature of -5°C, or in six days at should include storybook reading and wish to stand as candidates? a temperature of -10°C. carefully planned activities that enable This reasoning by the IEC raises With the onset of cold weather, the the development of pupils’ phonolog- eyebrows just as its decision to appoint intensity of traffic along the “Road of ical processing skills. This could range Justice Dikgang Moseneke to make a Life” increased. If, on November 21, from singing and rhyming to sound case for election postponement did. the first delivered batch of food con- manipulation games. As we previously said, the IEC sisted of 63 tons of flour, then by the If so much effort and funding are appears to have sought Justice ALEKSEI V MALENKO end of December, about 1 000 tons put towards developing literacy and Moseneke’s endorsement of its pre- of supplies were delivered to the city enhancing children’s ability to read, determined decision to postpone the every day. From December 25, food why are literacy levels not improving? polls, instead of taking and standing NOWADAYS, the Russian city of St rations began to rise, but hundreds of According to reading expert Louisa by such a decision. Petersburg – one of Cape Town’s sister thousands of people had already died Moats, our children will not master DA federal council chairperson cities – is a modern metropolis that of hunger. During the operation of this craft as long as ineffective teaching Helen Zille’s disclosure that she nevertheless has not lost its historical the ice road from November 1941 to methods are used and evidence-based received a call from the IEC, before and cultural heritage. April 1942, more than 550 000 people instructional strategies are ignored. the Moseneke report could be released, In 2019, about 10 million guests, were evacuated from the besieged city, Science tells us that our brains are asking whether her party would half of whom were foreigners, visited and 361 thousand tons of cargo were not as fully evolved to process written oppose the postponement of the polls, the city inhabited by 5 million people delivered to Leningrad. language as they are to process spoken is telling. It also raises questions about and located on the banks of the Neva On January 18, 1943, as a result of language. This means that systematic whether the IEC is really prepared for river. the Iskra Offensive military operation, and explicit instruction is necessary the elections. But even now, during the crisis the blockade of the city of Leningrad to help our brains master the craft of The Justice Moseneke route, the of international tourism and closed was broken, but the siege of Lenin- reading. But what should be systemat- interpretation of the Concourt ruling borders, the city hosts major interna- grad continued until January 1944. In ically and explicitly instructed? and claims the IEC gave the ANC a life- tional events: at the beginning of June, January-February 1944, Soviet troops And, what scientific processes are line cast a dark cloud on the commis- the city hosted an annual economic carried out the Leningrad-Novgorod happening so that a reader can be sion’s credibility and independence. forum visited by many foreign delega- operation. The enemy was thrown regarded as proficient? Such things should not be happening. tions; in June-July this year, six football back 220-280km from the southern Reading is an intricate process matches of the Euro 2020 tournament borders of the city. dependent on many other intricate (postponed until 2021 due to Covid- January 27 is celebrated as the Day processes to make meaning. In their 19) were held at Gazprom Arena, the of Ultimate Lifting the Blockade of the book An Introduction To Language And city’s main stadium. city of Leningrad. Literacy, Deborah Glaser and Louisa However, the northern capital of In April 1944, the rehabilitation Moats describe good reading as the Russia is really nice just as it is. Born process of the city had already begun, accurate deciphering of printed words, FOUNDED 1876 in this beautiful city, I declare with although the war was far from over. sufficient reading speed and under- Editor Siyavuya Mzantsi full responsibility that St Petersburg The pace of recovery was astonish- standing the meaning of words. Newsdesk 021 488 4716 will never leave anyone indifferent. ing. Shelling and bombing destroyed That said, how will we develop Advertising 072 585 4396 It is not by chance that the city takes a third of the housing stock, more good readers? We can only develop Subscriptions 0800 220 770 a special place in the works of writers than 800 enterprises, two-thirds of good readers if we instruct decoding Deliveries 0800 220 770 and poets – in particular, in that one medical institutions, and half of the systematically and explicitly. of Alexander Pushkin called The Sun of schools. In 1944, more than 400 000 If pupils develop the knowledge Russian Poetry, who wrote: previously evacuated people came back and skills to effectively decode unfa- Mail: 122 St Georges Mall, Cape Town, “City of Peter, just you shine to Leningrad. In 1945, more than half miliar words, they would be able to 8001 And stand unshakeable as Russia! a million. It was the will of the people recognise words more fluently. A skill E-mail: [email protected] May make a peace with beauty, thine, to return. such as decoding is related to pupils’ Web: iol.co.za/Cape Times The conquered nature’s casual During 1944-1945, 1.6 million knowledge of phonics and their pho- Facebook: facebook.com/Cape Times rushes …” square metres of housing, 205 schools, nemic awareness (the ability to iden- Twitter: @CapeTimesSA But all of that may not have and dozens of kindergartens were tify the separate sounds in a language). Instagram: @capetimessa happened. Exactly 80 years ago, the restored. In April 1946, about 7 000 This is often a conundrum in German fascist invaders started the apartments were connected to a gas South Africa as most pupils are not – which is what supply. taught in their home language. Not the city was called then – and one of By order of the Supreme Com- all South African languages have the GROUP OMBUD the most tragic and at the same time THE Isaac’s Cathedral during the siege and at present. mander-in-Chief dated May 1, 1945, same language system, which means heroic pages in the history of the Great the city of Leningrad received the that phonics and phonemic awareness Yogas Nair Patriotic War began. The Blockade, first days it was not possible to buy blocked by the Nazis, and that con- title of a due to the cour- instruction will be very different across

[email protected] which lasted for 872 days, according any foodstuffs. nected the city and territories not age shown by its residents during the the various languages of the classroom. Complaints can be sent to: Office of The Group Ombud (Arbitration) to various estimates, claimed the lives Food supply standards were cal- controlled by the invaders, was the Blockade. The incomparable courage For this reason, the development of [email protected] of between 600 000 and 1.5 million culated on the basis of the minimum water of Ladoga Lake. Therefore, from of Soviet citizens – soldiers, home front a crucial literacy skill may be impeded. Legal matters inhabitants. quantity that would allow a person not spring to autumn communication was workers, ordinary people – made it Fluent readers should be able to [email protected] The siege of Leningrad started on to die – although the city lacked food hampered by unfavourable weather possible to defend the city 80 years understand what they are reading, Subscription Complaints and non delivery September 8, 1941, when the German even for that. Schools remained open, conditions and a lack of sufficient ago, turn it into a modern metropolis, because instead of deciphering words, [email protected] army closed the ring around the city but fewer and fewer children attended water transport, but during the winter the second largest city of Russia (after they will simply integrate the newly https://www.independentmediaombud.co.za/ after capturing the town of Shlissel- their classes. They studied by candle- months thick ice covered Ladoga Lake, ), successfully develop sister acquired information with what they Cape Times is printed by Insights Publishing, 47 Pixley burg. The northern part of the city light, constant bombing interfered in thereby making it possible to drive a city relations with other cities of the already know. To develop competent Ka Isaka Seme Street, Johannesburg, Gauteng. The was besieged by Finnish troops. Not the educational process. car all over the way. This route was world, including the Mother City. readers, we need to understand what copyright in the literary and artistic works contained in this newspaper and its supplements, as well as everyone was able to leave the city On September 2, 1941, on the eve used not only to deliver food and I invite you, dear readers, to visit it means to learn to read, and what in the published editions and any other content or before the Blockade began. From the of the beginning of the Blockade, the ammunition to the besieged city, but St Petersburg one day. Take a boat ride foundations are needed for anyone to material (including in any online version), belongs first days of the Blockade, German workers of the hot shops received also to evacuate residents, and was along its canals, have a nice walk along succeed in learning to read. exclusively to Independent Newspapers (Pty) Limited artillery began to conduct constant 800 grams of bread, engineers and called the “Road of Life”. its main street of Nevsky Prospekt, see Let us use International Literacy unless otherwise stated. The copyright, including the reproduction and adaptation of any content or material barbaric shelling, and it became almost technicians and other workers – 600. Construction of the ice track began the world-famous Hermitage Museum. Day, September 8, to meet this chal- contained in this newspaper and its supplements, impossible to leave the city. Employees, dependents and children in October 1941. The military road was I invite you to enjoy its endless charm lenge head-on as we continue to raise is expressly reserved to the publisher, Independent On September 8, 1941, the Ger- – 300-400 grams. Since October 1, supposed to be 10 metres wide for the and pay tribute to the unprecedented awareness of literacy problems that Newspapers (Pty) Limited, under Section 12(7) of the Copyright Act of 1978. The circulation of the Cape Times mans bombed the large food ware- the ration had been halved. During two-way traffic of vehicles, and feeding courage of the defenders of Leningrad exist nationally and internationally. is certified by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, which houses of Badayevsk, and the 3 million the siege, only 3% of the deaths were and heating points were supposed to who never surrendered, and ensured can be contacted at PO Box 47189, Parklands, 2121, population of the city were doomed the result of shelling. The reason for be built every 5km. that the city still exists. Dr Barends is a lecturer and leader of South Africa or Suite 5, Ground Floor, 158 Jan Smuts, 9 Walters Ave, Rosebank, 2196, Johannesburg. to starvation. the remaining 97% was hunger and For a truck with a ton of cargo the Foundation Phase Programme in the Cover price: R11.50 (includes VAT at 15%) A system of food ration cards was hardship. to pass through the lake on ice, its Malenko is the Consul-General of Department of Curriculum Studies at introduced immediately – during the The only artery that was not thickness along the entire route must Russia in Cape Town Stellenbosch University