50 YEARS AFTER 1976, BLACK LEARNERS FROM WORKING CLASS FAMILIES AND MARGINALISED COMMUNITIES ARE STILL FIGHTING FOR ACCESS TO EDUCATION 

Home | 50 YEARS AFTER 1976, BLACK LEARNERS FROM WORKING CLASS FAMILIES AND MARGINALISED COMMUNITIES ARE STILL FIGHTING FOR ACCESS TO EDUCATION 
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                                                                                      MEDIA STATEMENT  MARCH NOTICE

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 12 June 2026

 

On 15 June 2026, Equal Education (EE), alongside unplaced learners and their parents, will march to the offices of the Western Cape Premier and Western Cape Education MEC to demand an end to the perpetual neglect of Black learners in the province.

50 years after the 1976 youth uprising and well into democratic South Africa, school-going youth are still fighting a failing education department in a province where Black learners from marginalised communities are treated as an afterthought. These learners continue to struggle to be placed in schools. The education struggles faced by Black learners today mirror the challenges and injustices that young people fought against in 1976. Even worse, some Black learners in the Western Cape have not seen the light of a classroom since the beginning of the 2026 school year.

It has become a disturbing norm in the Western Cape for Black learners from working-class families and marginalised communities to be Left Behind and denied access to education. We are almost at the end of the second term, but Equal Education continues to receive reports from affected parents noting that their children are sitting at home without school places. Parents are sent from pillar to post, with no clear indication of when their children will finally set foot in a classroom. For many Black learners in the Western Cape, this has become a lived reality. 

Since the inception of EE in 2008, we have been at odds with the Western Cape government over their lack of urgency and prioritisation of the education of Black learners. Over the last 5 years, EE has met with, pleaded with, protested against, and even litigated against the Western Cape government to force the amendment of its discriminatory admission policy against Black learners. Their response to all of this has revealed that we are dealing with an arrogant government, a government that refuses to see and deal with access to education challenges faced by Black learners.

On 2 June 2026, EE appeared before the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education to present evidence regarding allegations of racial profiling and systemic exclusion in the Western Cape education system. We highlighted policy provisions and administrative practices that continue to serve as barriers to access to education. During these proceedings, the Western Cape MEC for Education, Mr David Maynier, refused to account for the conditions that continue to leave Black learners behind.

The exclusion of learners and the shortage of school places in the Western Cape have a clear racial and socio-economic character. Those most affected are Black learners, township communities, poor families, and other marginalised groups. The Western Cape government’s approach to Black learners is not incidental. It reflects a persistent pattern. Year after year, Black learners are forced to miss the first term, the second term, or even an entire academic year because of the lack of urgency and political will by the Western Cape government.

Over the years, we have extensively engaged the Western Cape government. We sat in Parliament, wrote letters, and attended numerous meetings without any remedy for our members, affected learners, and parents. Accordingly, on the eve of Youth Day, EE learners and affected parents will march to the offices of the Western Cape Premier and the Education MEC to hand over memoranda of demands.

This is not just a march. We stand on the shoulders of the brave young people of 1976 who fought for dignity, equality, and access to quality education. On 15 June 2026, we will march so that in another 50 years, our children will not be standing in the same streets of Cape Town, fighting the same fight, and weeping the same tears. We will march along unplaced learners, including primary school-going-age learners and disgruntled parents who have lost hope in the Western Cape government. We demand, among other things, the following:

 

  1. The provision of additional learner places in disadvantaged communities across the Western Cape;
  2. The WCED must place all the learners who are not placed before the third quarter of this year.
  3. A clear and proactive learner placement plan with prioritised education resource provisioning for marginalised school communities;
  4. The WCED must develop clear catch-up plans for all the learners who are still not placed;
  5. The investigative inquiry on causes of non-placement of learners and a Western Cape-funded campaign to search for children who are out of school in the marginalised communities and reintegrating them back into the schooling system.

 

In conclusion, to address systemic challenges that are persisting in the Western Cape, the Western Cape government must desist from ad hoc solutions towards sustainable solutions. Equal Education is strongly calling on the Western Cape Education Department to revise its learner admission policy through meaningful public participation.

 

                                                          

#SofundaSonke

#NolearnerMustBeLeftBehind

#1976-2026 

 

To arrange a media interview, contact: 

Ayanda Sishi-Wigzell ayanda@equaleducation.org.za or 076 879 3017

Sesethu August sesethu@equaleducation.org.za 063 221 7983