We stand with the people of South Africa whose children are, once again, denied space in public schools. This crisis is not new. It happens every year, yet government continues to arrive without a plan, without urgency, and without accountability.
This failure sits squarely with the Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, and the Premier of Gauteng, Panyaza Lesufi. Their administrations have turned school admissions into an annual spectacle of confusion, queues, and exclusion, while issuing press statements instead of delivering classrooms.
The Department of Basic Education governs through excuses.We further condemn the situation in Gauteng, particularly Ekurhuleni, where learners are expected to return to schools without electricity. We call on EMPD and all responsible authorities to immediately restore electricity to public schools. No learner should be forced into a school that cannot even keep the lights on.
The crisis is worsened by deep systemic challenges: poor infrastructure planning, neglected township and rural schools, chronic underinvestment in classrooms, and an admissions system that consistently fails working-class families.
We state without hesitation that the ANC–DA governance arrangement has directly contributed to this crisis. While they posture as partners of stability, their combined governance has produced policy paralysis, administrative confusion, and a lack of accountability. Children are paying the price for political convenience and elite consensus.
We condemn this situation in the strongest possible terms. We reject the normalisation of failure, the recycling of excuses, and the continued punishment of poor and working-class children for government incompetence. This is a violation of rights and a betrayal of the future.
President – AFRIKA Mayibuye Youth Movement Keamogetswe Masike