Who and what is AfriForum?

AfriForum is an Afrikaans civil rights organisation that protects the rights of minority groups at national as well as provincial level, and anyone who can identify with AfriForum’s principles and objectives may join the organisation. AfriForum’s community plan focuses on mobilising communities to thus take control of their own streets and neighbourhoods again. AfriForum ensures that your constitutional and civil rights are recognised and protected at national level.

Wie en wat is AfriForum?

AfriForum is ’n Afrikaanse burgerregteorganisasie wat die regte van minderheidsgroepe op sowel nasionale as provinsiale vlak beskerm, en enigiemand wat met AfriForum se beginsels en doelstellings kan identifiseer, mag by die organisasie aansluit. AfriForum se gemeenskapsplan fokus daarop om gemeenskappe te mobiliseer om só weer beheer terug te neem oor hul eie strate en woonbuurtes. AfriForum verseker dat jou grondwetlike én burgerregte op nasionale vlak erken en beskerm word.

Organisations slam GDE’s recklessness with Grade R placements

The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has been advised, in a formal letter, to review its planned inclusion of Grade R in the central online admissions system for 2027.

In this joint letter from the Solidarity Teachers’ Network, the Solidarity Support Centre for Schools (SCS) and AfriForum, it is warned that the hasty decision is not only unrealistic but may have been taken unlawfully.

The organisations are demanding that the department urgently postpone the implementation of mandatory Grade R inclusion until the basic requirements for Grade R education are in place.

According to Johan Botha, head of the Solidarity Teachers’ Network, the decision is a classic example of policy that does not align with the realities on the ground.

“The department is trying to provide an administrative solution to an infrastructure crisis. It is pointless. An online system cannot create classrooms, train teachers or build schools overnight. This decision is simply removed from reality,” says Botha.

Earlier this year, Gauteng MEC for Education, Lebogang Maile, told the media that a shortage of approximately 200 schools and 5 554 classrooms exist in Gauteng.

Alana Bailey, head of Cultural Affairs at AfriForum, states that the GDE’s own admission of this significant shortage of classrooms and lack of schools is already creating serious challenges for education in the province.

Therefore, she believes that proposals for online admissions for Grade R, while infrastructure and funding are lacking, are inexplicable.

“We see annually how Gauteng already struggles to place learners in existing grades on time, with online placements often only finalised months after the start of the school year.

“Expanding an already overburdened and flawed system to include Grade R is not only irresponsible; it is reckless and it places enormous pressure on all involved,” Bailey said.

Melanie Buys, head of development at the SCS, said the decision would place an unfair and additional burden on schools and parents.

Buys explains that parents are required to register their children through a central system, despite there being no guarantee that places will be available.

“That duty must go hand in hand with the state’s constitutional duty to ensure real access to education. The adoption of the Bela Act in December 2024 created an obligation that, in reality, cannot be met,” Buys believes.

Meanwhile, schools that have built their own Grade R facilities with private funds are exposed to central control, without any clear compensation or support.

“The state cannot evade its constitutional duty by shifting the burden onto schools and parents. Nor can it compel compliance with a system that it does not have the capacity to maintain or support,” Buys says.

“In addition, there is a serious shortage of qualified Grade R teachers. According to indications, approximately 2 333 Grade R teachers are needed. No credible plan has yet been announced on how this shortage will be addressed.

“The question is simple: Where will the necessary classrooms, resources and teachers come from? Who will pay for facilities that schools have already built themselves?” says Buys.

In the letter, the organisations request that the GDE provide the following information in writing within 14 days:

The department’s implementation plan, budgets and timeframes to address the shortage of classrooms and schools.
The funding and appointment of the additional 2 333 qualified Grade R teachers.
Compensation, subsidies and further support for schools that have already funded their own Grade R facilities.
The process for parents who are unable to register their children in Grade R due to a lack of available space.
Whether non-registration for Grade R will prejudice a child’s Grade 1 placement in 2028 or beyond.
The current number of available Grade R places per school and per district.
The budget for the integration of Grade R in primary schools.

Solidarity, the SCS and AfriForum agree that implementing the decision without sufficient capacity, infrastructure and resources is not only impractical but also poses serious legal risks.

The Teachers’ Network therefore maintains that Grade R admissions should remain school-based for the time being, until the department can prove that there is sufficient space, staff and funding to accommodate every learner.