Real Reform for ECD calls on all parties in Parliament to support this first, critical step towards placing young children at the centre of South Africa’s social and economic development agenda.
Investment in young children and the women-led care economy that serves children is an effective way to address our nation’s greatest challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality – in the short and long term – through improved education and health outcomes, gender equity, and inclusive economic growth.
As Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said, and we couldn’t agree more:
The foundation to building the next generation of citizens who contribute economically and socially to this great nation is early childhood development.
More children will receive a higher ECD subsidy
R10 billion in new funding will restore the purchasing power of the ECD subsidy, raising it from R17 per child per day (where it’s been stuck since 2019) to R24 per child per day, and extending it to 700,000 additional children.
The ECD subsidy supports registered ECD programmes that serve children who live in poor households; and is spent on staff fees, nutrition, and operational costs.
Overall, the number of subsidised children will increase from 800,000 today to 1.5 million by 2027/28, an important step towards realising the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE) 2030 Strategy for ECD Programmes–its roadmap to achieving universal access to quality ECD by 2030.
Direct support for ECD infrastructure and registration
R210 million in new funding was added to the ECD infrastructure grant for 2026/27 and 2027/28, in support of the government’s Bana Pele Mass Registration Drive.
This is a move in the right direction, but still far from the funding required to ensure legal compliance at the more than 19,000 unregistered ECD programmes countrywide. The majority of unregistered ECD programmes in low-income communities need infrastructure improvements before they can meet health and safety standards, register with government, and access the ECD subsidy.
First step in addressing SA’s nutrition crisis
Funding for the DBE’s early nutrition pilot increased by 70% from R197 million in 2024/25 to R336 million in 2025/26. We welcome this continued commitment to addressing unacceptable rates of malnutrition and stunting, and call for further engagement with the sector by the DBE on the design of this pilot, which must benefit the most vulnerable children.
As many as 1-in-4 children under 5 years in South Africa are stunted due to malnutrition which has serious lifelong health consequences. World Bank data shows that ending stunting in South Africa would boost GDP by at least R80 billion.
We cannot afford to waste the opportunity presented by the early nutrition pilot.
Marginal increase in Child Support Grant
The Child Support Grant will increase by 5.7% (R30) to R560 per month. This is lower than the 19 February withdrawn budget proposal, and fails to make up for the value lost to food price inflation in recent years, with the food poverty line in South Africa being R798 per month.
MTBPS and 2026 Budget an opportunity to build on gains
The revised 2025 Budget invests in children and the ECD sector; therefore it is an investment in the just and equitable society we strive to be. The realisation of justice and equity will require us to sustain and increase this investment in next year’s budget and into the foreseeable future.
We urge the Government of National Unity to consider the following for the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) and into 2026 as ways to build on the gains made in the 2025 Budget:
- Commit to ongoing increases to the ECD subsidy value so that it fully covers the costs of a basic quality ECD programme, estimated to be at least R45 per child per day.
- Ensure adequate human resources are deployed at the national and provincial level to fast-track the Bana Pele Mass Registration Drive.
- Adopt an Expansion and Financing Plan to ensure that 2.3 million children benefit from the ECD subsidy by 2030, as envisioned in the DBE’s 2030 Strategy for ECD Programmes.
- Increase the Child Support Grant from R560 to R590 per month from October 2025 and commit to further increases to ensure parity with the food poverty line, currently R798 per month.
- Ensure that revenue and spending proposals narrow inequality and do not further burden low-income households.
Support the implementation of a double-discounted list of 10 budget-friendly food items to promote maternal and child nutrition.
