“The insinuation made by Mentor on her Facebook post that ‘R42b is missing in one financial year’ and that the ‘Minister’s child aged 22 drives a Lamborghini’ are both utter lies.

“These lies have absolutely no basis in the truth and are a weak attempt to besmirch the reputation of the Minister,” said the department.

Minister Motshekga not only condemns these lies in the strongest possible terms, said the statement, but has decided to instruct her lawyers to follow on this matter and sue Mentor for defamation of character.

The comments made by Mentor were accompanied by a picture of learners sitting at school desks outside in the open.

“We have asked the Eastern Cape Department of Education to investigate the circumstances of the picture and they have confirmed that it was Grade 10 learners.

“We have asked them to explain why such took place and action need to be taken against whoever was responsible and allowed such to occur as it is unacceptable for learners to be expected to learn under such conditions,” said the department.

The department explained that the picture was taken in the Libode district of the Eastern Cape – an area which has been the biggest beneficiary of the school build programme as it is a very rural area made up mostly of mud schools.

The departments claims that in a bid to eradicate mud schools and unsafe structures, to date 53 new state of the art schools have been built in the district through the Accelerated School Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI) alone, and another ten are at various stages of implementation.

The statement said: “Besides the brick and mortar of these schools’ construction, ASIDI is also helping to restore dignity and pride to the education sector especially to those learners in rural and under privileged urban areas who were neglected by the previous government.”

Equal Education (EE) claims Motshekga has been engaged in a “faux showing of public accountability”, and claim the minister is in violation of the school infrastructure law.

The original photo was uploaded by EE, together with a video in which the school’s principal explained that due to a clash in exams and a shortage of classrooms, and with the nearby school unable to accommodate them, these students were forced to sit outside.

EE is on a #FixOurSchools campaign to put pressure on the Minister to fix many schools they say are in even worse condition.

This is not the first time Vytjie has upset government. Earlier this year the former ANC member of parliament alleged the Guptas offered her a ministerial job while President Jacob Zuma was in the next room.

– Sources SAnews.gov.za, Equal Education, Vytjie Mentor’s FB page