Issued by Ismail Joosub on behalf of the FW de Klerk Foundation on 03/11/2025

South Africa’s education system faces a dual crisis: administrative failure and the erosion of children’s constitutional rights. According to the Department of Basic Education’s 2024/25 Annual Report, seven provincial education departments collectively failed to spend nearly R150 million in conditional grants. The funds were meant for school feeding schemes, early childhood development (“ECD”) and essential infrastructure. Limpopo alone failed to spend R69,7 million, including R33,2 million for school nutrition and R11,3 million for infrastructure.

This under-expenditure occurred despite widespread child hunger, overcrowded classrooms and dilapidated facilities – a situation that runs contrary to section 29(1)(a) of the Constitution, which guarantees everyone the right to basic education and section 28(1)(c), which ensures every child’s right to basic nutrition, shelter and social services. Under section 7(2), the state is obliged to “respect, protect, promote and fulfil” these rights, but this duty cannot be met when appropriated funds lie idle.

“Returning millions meant to feed and educate children is indefensible,” said Ismail Joosub, Manager of the Constitutional Advancement Programme at the FW de Klerk Foundation. “The National School Nutrition Programme and infrastructure grants are lifelines – not optional extras. This failure represents a breakdown in constitutional accountability and a betrayal of the poorest learners.”

The Foundation notes that budget shortfalls and administrative inefficiencies do not absolve the state of its obligations. Provinces that fail to spend must face remedial action under the Public Finance Management Act of 1999 (“PFMA”), while Parliament’s oversight committees must exercise their constitutional duty under section 55(2) to hold the executive to account.

“The answer is not to cut more budgets, but to strengthen capacity, planning and accountability,” added Christo van der Rheede, Executive Director of the Foundation. “Provincial treasuries and education departments must implement consequence management and publish transparent spending reports. The right to education is the cornerstone of social justice and cannot be deferred.”

The FW de Klerk Foundation calls for urgent corrective measures to ensure that every rand allocated to education reaches the classroom, the child and the Constitution it was meant to serve.