Gwarube says partnership with McDonald’s for branded foldable desks due to budget constraints
Gwarube said the reality is that 13.5 million learners and the current budget simply can’t meet the demands of the basic education sector, which is also struggling with budget constraints.
Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube (left) is seated in one fo the MiDesks during a handover ceremony at St Paul's Primary School in Bo-Kaap, Cape Town on 24 February 2025. Picture: @Siviwe_G/X
CAPE TOWN - Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube has again defended the McDonald’s branded foldable desks for learners donated to the department, saying they need all the help they can get.
Gwarube said the reality is that 13.5 million learners and the current budget simply can’t meet the demands of the basic education sector, which is also struggling with budget constraints.
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Gwarube was addressing members of the National Assembly on Tuesday, where the issue over the branded desks came up again.
The McDonald’s branded foldable desks that were handed over to a public school in Cape Town have been criticised by some civil society organisations and regular South Africans.
They accused the department of allowing corporates to turn children into branded billboards, but Gwarube said these sorts of partnerships with corporates are not something they can shy away from.
“The 13.5 million learners and the 24,000 schools and the kind of budget that we have in the system, we simply cannot meet the demand. Therefore, we have to partner with private partners.”
However, Gwarube said she agrees there is a need for a policy to regulate how certain donated items are branded and how these could be harmful to learners.
“However, where I agree with the honourable member and the criticism of how some corporate partners advertise with products at schools is that we must have a policy that says how do we manage the kind of branding and advertisements that happen in schools in a way that doesn’t harm the learners.”
She said the future of partnerships is here because, ultimately, government cannot meet the demand of schools and learners for support material like school desks.