MEMORANDUM OF DEMANDS
50 YEARS AFTER 1976 – ENDING THE SYSTEMIC EXCLUSION OF BLACK LEARNERS IN THE WESTERN CAPE
TO: Premier of the Western Cape, Mr. Alan Winde TO: MEC for Education, Western Cape, Mr. David Maynier
FROM: Equal Education (EE) DATE: 15 June 2026
Political statement
Tomorrow marks 50 years since the Soweto uprising.
In 1976, over 2000 learners from Langa, Nyanga and Gugulethu marched through the streets of Cape Town, demanding better education for Black learners. 50 years later, the chickens have come home to roost, and learners from the same marginalised communities are still marching for the same cause.
Even worse, 50 years later, Black learners are not only fighting for better resourcing and learning conditions in Western Cape schools but also for access to them. We are here. Still marching. We are still demanding. We are still burying the same dream and digging it up again, year after year, with bloodied hands and unbowed hearts.
In 2026, Black learners are fighting for equitable and meaningful access to education, classrooms, and safe school environments. Over the years, Black learners have been left behind. At the beginning of every school year, it has become a norm in the Western Cape that Black learners are kept out of school.
Today is not accidental. This is a pattern. Black learners have been subjected to this pattern of events. It has become a norm that Black learners are to miss the first term, the second term or even the entire school year because of the lack of available school places.
Parents are continuously sent from pillar to post with no clear direction from schools, education districts, or the provincial department, hopelessly searching for school places for their children in the Western Cape. As we stand here today, half-way through the school year, Black learners are without school places. It is Black learners who are kept out of school by the Western Cape government. Today, we are putting a stop to that. Today, we are calling on the Western Cape government to take the life of a Black child seriously; the future of a Black child must be taken seriously by the Western Cape Government.
Equal Education, since its existence, has been at odds with the Western Cape government for ensuring the realisation of the right to basic education and ensuring that every learner in the province is not left out.
Equal Education has been fighting in courts, in the streets, in parliament and in communities to ensure that no one is left behind. One learner left out of school is a future destroyed. Black learners can no longer bear the cost of their futures being squandered by a government that deprioritises their education.
When you deny a child a school place, you do not merely delay their education. You send a message, a message written in silence and in closed doors that their lives matter less. That their dreams are negotiable. That they were born into the wrong community, the wrong skin, the wrong side of the Western Cape and a province with a painful history for Black people.
We march today so that in another 50 years, our children will not be standing in these same streets, fighting the same fight, and weeping the same tears.
“I am 16 years old, and I used to study science subjects in school, and I have applied to 6 or 7 schools by myself…I am now being told that I should get a job. I want to learn, I do not want a job!” – an unplaced learner
“Thato has been continuously failed by the schooling system. We have been sent from pillar to post after seeing that she has special education needs…We made the decision to move from Khayelitsha to Kerkriver to try to get her a school, but we were told by the school that she is now 15 and would therefore badly influence the younger learners in her class. She is now sitting back at home.” – grandmother of an unplaced learner
“Asake migrated from Gauteng to the Western Cape. I applied and was placed at a school. However, when I went to the school, I was asked for the original copy of his documents…I went back to the school with those documents and was told that I must hand over his report card as well. After this, I was told his marks were not good enough, and the school was full. The district also said there is nothing they can do” – mother of an unplaced learner
My child is 7 years old and sitting in school. I did not have an ID because of issues with Home Affairs, but I finally have it. However, my child still does not have a birth certificate. When I went to apply at a school, I was told by the principal that he does not accept foreigners at the school. My child has never been in a classroom” – mother of unplaced learner
DEMANDS TO THE MEC FOR EDUCATION, MR. DAVID MAYNIER AND THE PREMIER OF THE WESTERN CAPE, MR. ALAN WINDE
In light of the above, we demand the following:
1. Placement of all unplaced learners before the start of the third quarter of 2026
● All learners currently out of school must be placed by 20 July 2026. The WCED must develop and provide a learner placement plan, and weekly progress reports to Equal Education and the Portfolio Committee.
● This includes, all learners provided to the WCED by Equal Education, and those who are similarly placed. The list of unplaced learners is annexed hereto marked EE2026.
2. Clear Individualised Support Plans, including catch-up plans for affected learners
● For every learner placed after the start of the academic year, the WCED must provide catch-up plans, and after conducting learner assessments, must provide Individual Support Plans (ISPs), where necessary, and additional learning support for the remainder of the 2026 and 2027 academic years
3. Equitable resource allocation and planning
● A clear and proactive learner placement plan referred to above, with prioritised education resource provisioning for marginalised school communities.
● The department must ensure that ‘learner placement’ means a learner is physically present in a school, not just issued a document stating they are placed.
● The Rapid School Programme must not become a dumping ground for Black and working-class learners, with children placed on construction sites and left waiting indefinitely for actual classroom time.
● The WCED must build additional schools in the most disadvantaged communities in accordance with the growing demand for learner places. This growing demand for learner places must be accompanied by the employment of additional teachers.
4. Provision of psycho-social support for out-of-school learners
● The WCED must immediately provide access to psycho-social support for named learners as per Equal Education lists, and identify and track those similarly placed, who have been out of school for extended periods in 2026.
● A dedicated responsible officiaql must be appointed in each education district to support the mental health and reintergration of long-term unplaced learners.
5. Admission of learners regardless of documentation status
● The WCED must issue an immediate binding directive requiring all public schools to accept learners regardless of ID, proof of residence, or immigration status.
● Affidavits and sworn parent/guardian statements must be accepted for enrollment.
● The directive must be published in all official languages, distributed to all SGBs and displayed in school reception areas.
6. Clear, enforceable processes for admission of learners with special educational needs
● The WCED must publish a clear, step-by-step admissions pathway for parents of learners with disabilities, including binding deadlines.
● The WCED must support schools in referring learners with special needs to appropriate schools within a reasonable distance. Learners must be provided with government-subsidised scholar transport assistance where placement is outside a 5km radius.
● The WCED must establish district-level rapid-response teams to resolve special needs placement disputes before the third quarter.
7. Mandatory sensitivity training for principals and school administrators
● All principals, deputy principals, and admissions staff must complete mandatory training on socio-economic sensitivity, anti-poverty stigma, and the rights of working-class and Black families under the South African Schools Act and the Constitution.
● Parents must have an accessible, anonymous complaints mechanism for instances of discriminatory or insensitive treatment.
8. Investigative inquiry into non-placement and a door-to-door campaign
● The Premier must exercise their monitoring and oversight role as the executive head of the Western Cape in terms of school admissions. This cannot be left to a department that has proven, year after year, that it lacks the political will to act.
● The Premier must commission an independent investigative inquiry into the systemic causes of non-placement of Black learners in the Western Cape.
● Appoint an independent ombudsperson for learner admissions, with the power to investigate complaints and compel schools to admit learners.
CALL TO ACTION
We have pleaded, protested, litigated, and waited. The arrogance of this government must end. We demand a written response to this memorandum within 7 days, including clear timelines and budget allocations for each demand.
If no meaningful action is taken, we will have no choice but to escalate, through litigation, renewed protest, and further national advocacy.
The children of 1976 are watching. The children of 2026 are waiting.
#SofundaSonke #NoLearnerMustBeLeftBehind #1976-2026