Johannesburg – Parents in South Africa’s Gauteng province have been told that foreign nationals are not being placed ahead of South African children in public schools, amid rising tensions around school admissions.
The clarification came this week from Gauteng MEC for Education Matome Chiloane, who rejected claims circulating in parts of the province that the Gauteng Department of Education gives preference to foreign learners during school placements.
The issue has surfaced as some parents in Gauteng continue to wait for placement of their Grade 1 and Grade 8 children for the 2026 academic year. The matter has drawn regional attention, including in Eswatini, where many families have relatives working or living in South Africa and are sensitive to policy shifts affecting access to public services.
Chiloane’s response follows reports of an ongoing campaign by Operation Dudula, a pressure group that has been mobilising parents and calling for South African pupils to be prioritised over foreign nationals in schools. In September last year, the group allegedly delivered notices to several schools in Soweto, warning them against admitting undocumented pupils for the 2026 school year.
Addressing the claims, Chiloane said the department had no policy instructing schools or officials to favour foreign nationals during learner placement.
He said South African learners are prioritised in line with existing legislation and the department’s admissions and placement processes, adding that there is no deviation from the rules guiding public schools in the province.
Chiloane also explained how different grades are placed within the system. He said applications for inner grades, which include Grades 2 to 7 and Grades 9 to 11, are handled directly by schools and not through the online admissions platform used for Grade 1 and Grade 8 placements.
According to the MEC, some schools in Gauteng are currently struggling to accommodate inner grade applicants due to capacity constraints. He urged school management teams to work closely with district offices to manage placements more effectively and ensure learners are accommodated where space is available.
He warned that no school is allowed to place foreign national pupils ahead of South African learners. Any school or official found acting outside admissions policy would face disciplinary action.
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