Parents whose children have not been placed at any school say they are frustrated, despite applying early for the 2026 academic year. On Tuesday, they joined hundreds of others at the Gauteng Department of Education offices in Marshalltown, Johannesburg, seeking answers.
Some parents say they were told to wait until 28 January for space allocation.
Tumelo Mmopi from Cresta says she registered her child last year and wanted her Grade 1 learner to attend the same school as her older sibling.
“What makes me angry is that we registered the child last year. When we went to the school, they told us to go to the department. When we got there, it was a different story they couldn’t help us,” she said.
“The worst part is that we already bought the uniform, and now we are told to wait until the 28th.”
Mmopi questioned what her child would be doing while other learners had already started school. She also claimed she was being sent from pillar to post while foreign nationals’ children were being placed.
“We South Africans have to suffer just to get our children into school,” she said, adding that travelling from Cresta to the department was costly and stressful.
“This affects my healt, I’m on medication because of this,” she said, pulling medication from her bag.
Quinton Lee from Alberton said he applied to schools within a two-kilometre radius of his home but was instead offered placement 20 kilometres away.
“It’s ridiculous. I’m here to appeal the decision to place my child so far from home,” Lee said.
He urged department officials to follow proper procedures and ensure competence.
“There is a reason the system exists. Let’s follow the correct process,” he said, adding that system failures were driving some parents to take their children overseas, despite adequate infrastructure locally.
Lindiwe Mbatha from Diepkloof in Soweto alleged that the system was forcing parents into expensive and distant schools.
“I applied to schools in Greenstone, Roodepoort and Northcliff. They all said they were full last year. Jeppe High said they are still processing, but schools are already open and my child has no placement,” she said.
“They are forcing us into private schools, and we can’t afford that.”
Mbatha said she had not bought a uniform because she did not know where her child would be accepted. She called for the scrapping of the online placement system, suggesting walk-in applications would work better.
Meanwhile, Operation Dudula has been calling on parents who have not secured placements to contact the group. Member Thami Madondo said about 500 parents had already approached them.
“It is unfair that children of illegal foreign nationals are being placed while some local children still can’t find space,” Madondo said.
He added that the group was set to meet with the MEC for Education’s chief of staff.
“This online system has many flaws. I personally don’t understand it because it has created problems that did not exist before, but we are researching what the main issues could be,” he said.
Daily Maverick on Monday reported that the GDE is under severe pressure to place learners. A staggering 4,858 Grade 1 and Grade 8 pupils remain unplaced — 1,381 in Grade 1 and 3,477 in Grade 8 many of them in Ekurhuleni.
GDE could not be reached for comment.
