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Today, the Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng joined parents whose children still need to be placed at a school to picket outside the Gauteng Department of Education’s (GDE) Tshwane North District office. Parents carried placards bearing the slogan “a pain no family should bear.” They fear that their children’s futures are being lost in a maze of unanswered emails, broken systems, and government inaction.

Hundreds of learners remain unplaced, while some have been forced to attend schools far from their homes, long after the academic year began.

Children are exhausted before lessons even start. Parents are spending money they do not have on transport. Learners with special educational needs are travelling for hours, undoing therapy progress, and risking their safety every day.

This is not an inconvenience but cruelty through incompetence. South Africa’s Constitution guarantees every child the right to basic education. That right means nothing when a department cannot tell a parent where their child will go to school.

The DA Gauteng handed over a memorandum demanding the immediate finalisation of all outstanding placements in this district within seven working days. We want a public district recovery plan and a walk-in admissions help desk for parents. There must be full disclosure of placement backlogs and school capacity. Consequence management must be enforced when officials have failed to place learners promptly.

Parents are not asking for miracles; they are asking the government to do its job.

The DA will continue to raise this issue in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL), through oversight visits, and alongside communities until every learner is safely placed at a school close to home.

Yes, this can be done!

A DA-led Gauteng provincial government would immediately review the online placement system. We would open the process earlier in the year so that all learners are placed before the beginning of the academic year. Furthermore, we will conduct an audit on the school infrastructure backlog and ensure that this issue is resolved.

A child’s future should never depend on how loud their parents must shout to be heard.

Issued by Bronwynn Engelbrecht MPL - DA Gauteng Member of the Education Portfolio