Although the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has managed to successfully place almost 300 000 Grade One and Grade Eight learners in schools across the province, a number are still without placement.
As the new school year gears up to begin on 11 January, 2023, many parents and guardians are searching for schools for their children to attend.
Now, as parents and guardians are scrambling to ensure their children are successfully placed, a school in Pretoria has been accused of practicing racial discrimination.
The allegations, expressed by parents, are claiming that Laerskool Danie Malan is refusing to admit Black learners into the school. The group is claiming that the primary school is withholding the acceptance and admittance of non-white Grade One learners for 2023.
The situation has created a tense environment between white and Black parents, and has resulted in the GDE investigating the claims that the school is "refusing to transform". The school's School Governing Body (SGB) has refuted these allegations.
The SGB has stated that the school is filled to capacity.
“I can state to you it is definitely not a racial issue, it is a placement issue. We have all languages and all races in this school. We are over capacity already, so you must understand there are concerned parents that do not get a place for the children and then they come to the school to take out their frustrations but unfortunately that is something they need to take out with the department that is responsible for placements. We are only responsible for the kids that are already placed with us and their safety is our number 1 priority,” said Tinus Vos of the SGB.
Parents, alongside the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) political party, staged a protest.
"We are asking for placement as residents of the North; there are 5 Afrikaans classes and there is 15 to 21 learners in each classroom and we are asking for 1 additional classroom; there is also another classroom that they are using as a storeroom. They can take out that storeroom and use it as a class and they can actually have 3 English classes as well. Why must Black kids be squashed like sardines while they are sitting like a private school and this is a government school?," says the EFF’s Thami Shabangu.
According to GDE Spokesperson, Steve Mabona, some parents of learners enrolled in grades higher than Grade One, have stated that the situation has been "traumatizing" for their children, who have to return to school after the protests.
Acting and negotiating peacefully will bring the desired results, stated Mabona.
"In terms of accommodating English in this school; you'll understand that the school introduced English, but to a certain extent they still have a majority of the Afrikaans single medium...with time and capacity permitting, they [the school] should have been in a position to introduce classes by working very closely with them [the GDE]," says Mabona.
The Spokesperson added that now in 2023, there won't be any Afrikaans single medium schools; they'll be dual medium (English and Afrikaans).
Mabona says that although parents are asking for the school to transform, they must remember that it is a Constitutional right for their children to learn in a language that they prefer.
Single medium schools are in existence and are therefore protected under South Africa's laws, but, because demographics (in areas where schools are located) are changing, that is when the discussion can be brought to the table.
"They [demographics] dictate that you need to consider introducing English, because there are those that would not want to learn in Afrikaans entirely," explained Mabona.
The process of applying in July of 2022 and securing a place got off to a rocky start due technical difficulties, and later, the Department was dealing with issues relating to late application submissions for Grades One and Eight, as well as parents delaying their acceptance of a school, which then created a system backlog.
To allow for late applications to be submitted, the Department extended the application period by a month.
