By Johnathan Paoli

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube is expected to travel to KwaZulu-Natal on Monday for urgent talks aimed at resolving the province’s worsening education funding crisis.

The minister is set to convene an all-of-government meeting with Premier Thami Ntuli, Education MEC Sipho Hlomuka, Finance MEC Francois Rodgers, and senior national and provincial officials.

“The meeting will discuss the serious financial challenges besetting the province and propose a financial recovery plan for the provincial department to ensure stability and continuity in the delivery of education services in the province,” Basic Education spokesperson Terence Khala said.

The emergency meeting comes against a backdrop of deepening fiscal constraints that have left the KwaZulu-Natal education department struggling to fill critical posts, deliver resources to schools, and maintain basic operations.

Gwarube has emphasised that ensuring continuity in education services is a top national priority, noting that the sector is under immense pressure due to years of budget reductions and growing demands on the system.

The provincial department previously revealed that nearly 9,000 posts remain vacant due to budget constraints.

Appearing before the provincial legislature’s Education Portfolio Committee, officials confirmed that while more than 107,000 posts have been approved for the 2025/26 financial year, including over 90,000 educator positions and around 190 therapist posts, funding shortfalls have stalled appointments.

Chief Financial Officer Yali Joyi said the impact of budget cuts is evident in the department’s workforce and that by the end of the quarter in June, there were 98,801 filled posts against the fixed establishment, and that translated to 8,702 vacant posts.

The all-of-government meeting is expected to explore several options, including short-term financial bailouts, reprioritisation of provincial budgets, and longer-term structural reforms.

With nearly 9,000 teaching and support posts hanging in the balance, the stakes for Monday’s meeting are high, with the outcome possibly determining whether the province can begin to reverse years of financial decline or whether schools, teachers, and learners will continue to bear the brunt of austerity.

INSIDE EDUCATION

Inside Education Reporter

eThekwini Municipality has renewed a three-year partnership with five of South Africa’s leading universities, saying that in doing so, it is reaffirming its commitment to knowledge, innovation and collaboration as tools to drive inclusive growth and improve service delivery.

The agreement, signed on Friday, brings together the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Stellenbosch University, the University of South Africa, Durban University of Technology, and the Mangosuthu University of Technology.

Through a new Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), the city said it was taking “a bold path” in its transformation journey, pledging to continue building a smarter, more liveable and opportunity-rich Durban.

The initiative was first established in 2011 and has since become a cornerstone of the municipality’s development strategy. It is designed to merge academic expertise with the city’s development agenda to tackle pressing real-world challenges.

According to officials, the partnership is aimed at improving service delivery, strengthening skills development, and creating pathways for residents to thrive.

eThekwini Mayor, Councillor Cyril Xaba, described the MOA signing as a powerful recommitment to the city’s transformation agenda.

“This agreement is more than a renewal, it is reaffirmation of the power of collaboration, the spirit of innovation, and our shared commitment to building a better future for the city and its people,” he said.

The mayor added that working alongside universities would help create a city that was “not only smart and sustainable, but also inclusive and just.”

At the heart of the partnership lies the Municipal Institute of Learning (MILE), which has positioned Durban as a global centre for municipal learning and innovation.

MILE serves as a platform for knowledge exchange, drawing researchers, policymakers and community leaders to collaborate on urban solutions. City officials said the programme had made Durban a “beacon of knowledge exchange” and a hub for thought leadership.

The arrangement was described as mutually beneficial. Academic institutions provide research, innovation and intellectual capacity, while the municipality offers opportunities for applied learning and community engagement.

The city said that the partnership has helped eThekwini secure the distinction of having the highest number of PhD holders in South Africa, affirming its commitment to intellectual growth and excellence.

Universities involved in the agreement have pledged to work closely with municipal departments to co-create solutions for development challenges facing Durban and its residents.

“It is through collaboration, shared vision, and collective action that we can build a city that is resilient, equitable, and full of possibility,” Xaba said.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Johnathan Paoli

The Democratic Alliance Student Organisation (DASO) has condemned the forced lockout of students from their residences at Tshwane South TVET College in Pretoria West, calling the situation “inhumane and unacceptable”.

The lockout followed a payment dispute of more than R9 million between the Foundation Residence, in Pretoria, and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

“Education cannot take place under conditions of homelessness and insecurity. We call upon all stakeholders to urgently act in the best interests of the students, who should never have to bear the brunt of institutional and administrative failures,” DASO’s Deputy Chairperson of Administration, Lizwi Mneno, said.

The lockout left students stranded outside their residence, with some being forced to seek alternative shelter while others reported having to sleep in unsafe conditions.

At the centre of the dispute is NSFAS’s funding model, which channels accommodation allowances directly into students’ bank accounts rather than to service providers.

While the policy was intended to give students greater control over their allowances, it has instead created delays and disputes between landlords and students, with some residence providers refusing to accommodate NSFAS beneficiaries until full payments are received.

Mneno said that the payment backlog has left many students across the country vulnerable, as similar incidents have been reported at other institutions.

The student organisation called for several measures to address the crisis, including that:

— NSFAS take full accountability for the accommodation crisis and immediately resolve payment backlogs.

— Residence providers at Tshwane South TVET College urgently revisit their approach and reopen their doors to accommodate students who have been unjustly locked out.

— Accommodation fees be directly paid to residence providers, not students, to prevent disputes and ensure stability.

— The Minister of Higher Education intervene to ensure NSFAS reforms its inconsistent funding model, which continues to jeopardise students’ dignity, safety and education.

NSFAS has previously defended its direct payment system, saying it aims to reduce fraud and ensure funds reach the intended beneficiaries.

Earlier this month, the funding scheme announced that it will unveil a new student accommodation framework by the end of October, which will address persistent problems such as delayed disbursements, unpaid landlords, and students being left without housing.

At a media briefing in Pretoria, Acting NSFAS CEO Wasseem Carrim said the scheme is reviewing its accommodation system to strengthen policy, internal controls, and business processes, stressing that NSFAS did not want to pass the student accommodation function around like a football.

The Private Student Housing Association previously raised concerns about NSFAS paying rent money directly to students, sometimes resulting in misuse of funds and evictions.  

The scheme has urged landlords to adhere to payment guidelines during the transition.

At Tshwane South TVET College, the lockout has disrupted academic activities for affected students, with some missing classes and tests due to the uncertainty around their living arrangements.

The Foundation Residence has not yet publicly responded to DASO’s call to reopen the facility.

INSIDE EDUCATION

Many students are puzzled by the term “exclusion”; even more have no idea what the term means. Any student embarking on tertiary studies faces an equal risk of being excluded.

In this video, Inside Education explains the difference between Financial and Academic exclusion.

A decade ago, “exclusionary” policies by universities were the central tenet that gave birth to the #Fees Must Fall protests in South Africa.

By Johnathan Paoli

The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has issued a stern warning to Operation Dudula, saying that no form of intimidation, disruption, or violence will be tolerated on school premises.

This follows Operation Dudula’s ongoing campaign to block migrant children from enrolling in public schools.

The group recently announced that it wants to ensure “no foreign children” are admitted to public schools from January 2026.

On Monday, the group staged a campaign at Soweto schools and demanded that public schools prioritise South African learners over foreign nationals.

Department spokesperson Steve Mabona stressed that admissions are strictly governed by the Gauteng School Admissions Regulations, which prioritise factors such as a learner’s proximity to a school, siblings already enrolled, and feeder zones.

Citizenship or immigration status, he added, does not determine admission.

“The law is very clear: schools are not immigration centres. Their responsibility is to educate children, and constitutionally, all children of school-going age must be in school,” Mabona said.

Mabona added that the department will not compromise its constitutional duty to provide access to education.

He pointed out that many South Africans are themselves undocumented and that the department works closely with the Department of Home Affairs to guide parents on documentation.

“We have a constitutional obligation to make sure that we teach all children. Now it is even more critical because Grade R is compulsory, and the law dictates that those children must be taught. Education is not conditional on nationality or paperwork,” Mabona said.

The department’s stance follows Operation Dudula’s delivery of “warning letters” to 11 schools in Soweto, including Lofentse High School for Girls in Orlando East and Noordgesig Primary School.

The organisation, now positioning itself as a political party, warned that it would take further action by January if schools do not comply with its demands.

The department has made it clear that any attempt by Operation Dudula or any group to disrupt learning will be met with swift intervention from law enforcement agencies.

“We cannot enter into their plan. But as a department, we have a responsibility to work very closely with the law enforcement agencies to make sure that there is law and order in our schools. Anything done within the confines of the law is not a problem. But if you go into our schools and do anything unlawful, then the law enforcement agencies must assist us,” Mabona said.

The department stressed that legislation does not permit any disruption of schools or interference with teaching and learning.

Schools, it said, must remain safe and accessible environments for all learners, parents, and employees.

Operation Dudula has framed its school campaign as part of a broader political mobilisation ahead of next year’s local government elections.

Its leader, Zandile Dabula, claimed that undocumented South Africans were also being neglected by state systems and that the organisation was exposing “wrongs” in school admissions.

But critics argue the campaign is a dangerous continuation of the group’s anti-migrant activism, which previously targeted public health facilities.

Just days earlier, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Gauteng laid a criminal complaint against Operation Dudula, accusing it of inciting violence after a one-year-old baby allegedly died when its mother was denied healthcare.

The department reiterated that it is committed to ensuring schools remain centres of safety, learning, and inclusivity.

Mabona pointed to its broader efforts in strengthening education infrastructure and addressing challenges such as overcrowding, mobile classrooms, and waiting lists in special needs schools.

He said the department’s immediate priority, however, is protecting learners and educators from intimidation campaigns.

“Schools must never become battlegrounds for political agendas. We will protect the right of every child to learn in a safe, peaceful environment,” he said.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Johnathan Paoli

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube has welcomed the Bana Pele Early Childhood Development (ECD) Mass Registration Drive successfully registering and approving 10 000 ECD centres, three months ahead of the original 31 December deadline.

She said this signals that the campaign is not only on track but exceeding expectations.

Gwarube, who earlier this year set an ambitious target of bringing 10 000 centres into the formal system, described the milestone as a victory for children, practitioners, and communities across South Africa.

“This success is a testament to what can be achieved when the government, the private sector, civil society, and communities join forces. But we cannot take our foot off the pedal, much work remains to ensure every child has access to quality early learning opportunities,” she said.

The drive, which was launched nationally in July, has rolled out in five provinces with great success.

Through community-based registration clinics, a nationwide radio campaign, and direct engagement with practitioners, the department has lowered barriers that historically kept many centres unregistered.

The approach has brought government services closer to communities, particularly in rural and under-resourced areas, where ECD facilities have often operated informally without oversight or funding support.

The success comes at a time when South Africa is facing a severe early learning crisis.

According to the recently released Thrive by Five Index, 80% of children tested were found not to be developmentally on track, with the vast majority struggling to grasp foundational literacy and numeracy skills.

Experts warn that without intervention in the earliest years, these children face significant hurdles in school and beyond.

Gwarube has historically reiterated that addressing South Africa’s literacy and numeracy crisis requires urgent investment in early learning.

“If we want to fix the outcomes in senior primary school, we must first fix the foundations. This means ensuring children aged zero to four are enrolled in structured ECD centres where they can benefit from a curriculum, professional practitioners, and supportive learning materials,” she explained at the campaign’s launch.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana previously bolstered the initiative with a R10 billion allocation to early childhood development, reflecting the government’s recognition that strong foundations are critical to long-term educational and social outcomes.

Last week, the Western Cape leg of the registration drive doubled as a Literacy Month celebration.

Registered centres stand to benefit significantly from formalisation.

Once approved, ECD centres become eligible for departmental support, including a daily subsidy of R24 per child, as well as access to essential learning and teaching materials such as toys, colouring books, and reading resources.

These resources are intended to level the playing field for children from disadvantaged households, many of whom currently lack access to structured learning environments.

The department has introduced a tiered certification process, namely Bronze, Silver, and Gold; that allows centres to progressively improve their compliance and quality standards.

While the initial target has been met, the department is pressing ahead with the next phase of the drive.

Efforts will now intensify in the remaining four provinces, where unregistered centres remain widespread.

Gwarube confirmed that she will personally lead provincial visits to encourage practitioners to register and to engage directly with communities about the benefits of early learning.

Provincial leaders have already begun aligning with the initiative.

In the Northern Cape, Premier Zamani Saul has committed to building 10 new ECD centres annually over the next decade, while Education MEC Abraham Vosloo has acknowledged that the registration drive will help address longstanding challenges around infrastructure, practitioner training, and compliance.

Similarly, Free State Education MEC Mamiki Maboya has highlighted the campaign’s role in extending oversight, improving safety, and unlocking subsidies for low-income families.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, speaking earlier this year at the Bana Pele ECD Leadership Summit, conceded that the government should have prioritised early childhood development decades ago.

He framed the current drive as a long-overdue correction, essential to ensuring that every South African child has the chance to “thrive by five”.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Rafieka Williams

Post-doctoral researcher Kyle Smith, from the University of Pretoria’s Zoology Department, is on a quest to find and expand the study of the African Striped Weasel.

His goal is to expand research on this underresearched species, in doing so, contribute to a deeper understanding of the natural world.

In August 2025, Smith issued a public appeal, asking citizen scientists and the wider public to help locate the tiny but lethal nocturnal predator as part of efforts to protect the species.

Speaking told Inside Education that the response had been overwhelming.

“I’ve been swamped by emails and messages of sightings — not always of striped weasels, but that is part of the project, to make people aware of the weasels and how to distinguish them from other similar looking species. The public response has been great and many other media networks across the country have joined in to help and share our request for sightings to the public.”

The African Striped Weasel is a slender, black-and-white mustelid with a white tail, measuring 27 to 31cm in length. It is often mistaken for the striped polecat. Though indigenous to South Africa, it can also be found across much of sub-Saharan Africa.

Smith believes that expanding knowledge about under-researched animals like the African Striped Weasel will eventually drive conservation efforts, ensuring they do not face the risk of endangerment.

“The striped weasel is not classified as endangered. We do not have the data or results, yet, to say that they are at risk of becoming endangered. This we will hopefully reveal at the end of the project,” he said.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), more than 47,000 species of animals and plants face extinction in 2025.

Although sightings are rare, Smith has encountered the species before. In 2019, he recorded two individuals in the Knersvlakte region on the West Coast.

“I can’t reveal too much about the data we’ve collected thus far, but the inland regions of the Cape and the KZN midlands are where most of the sightings seem to come from,” he said.

His research involves both tracking and data collection, as well as engaging with local communities where the weasels may be living close to people.

“This research will hopefully allow for more research on mustelids in the future – a family that has not received much research attention in the past. With the success of this project, we hope to show other students and researchers a pathway to accomplish similar success with other elusive species that are not only limited to mammals,” Smith said.

His work will contribute to broader studies in zoology and conservation conducted by the University of Pretoria, Sol Plaatje University, and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

How you can help with the African striped weasel project

If you have information about sightings of African striped weasels, contact Kyle Smith via:

WhatsApp at 073 620 8517 or send sightings through to his social media handles on Instagram: @africanstripedweaselproject or @kylezoologist

Please include the following details:

The date and time of the sighting (at the very least, the month and year)

GPS coordinates or as precise a location as possible

Additional information includes:

Photographic evidence (regardless of quality)

Any other observations, such as sightings of prey caught, interactions with other species or, in cases of dead animals, speculations on the cause of death

GPS coordinates of burrows

Sightings include roadkill and other dead animals, as well as animals seen in neighbouring countries.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Leah Davina Junck and Rachel Adams

Artificial intelligence or AI uses computers to perform tasks that would normally have needed human intelligence. Today AI is being put to use in many aspects of everyday life, like virtual banking assistants, health chatbots, self-driving cars, even the recommendations you see on social media.

A new survey of over 3,000 South Africans from all walks of life asked how people feel about AI. It reveals that most South Africans can’t relate to AI in meaningful ways – despite the global hype about its pros and cons. We asked two of its authors to tell us more.

What did you find?

The research set out to capture how South Africans understand, experience and imagine AI. It aimed to provide representative insights into levels of awareness, perceptions of impact, and degrees of trust in the institutions developing and deploying AI. The aim is to help create an empirical basis for more responsive and inclusive AI governance in the country.

We found that for most South Africans (73%) the term “AI” barely registers. AI increasingly plays a role in public life – often behind the scenes in areas like healthcare, credit scoring and social media moderation. But 37% of the survey respondents had never heard of AI, while 36% indicated they’d heard of it but knew very little about it and the role it might already be playing in their lives.

The survey also gives us a sense of why awareness remains so low. Most information comes through social media. Only 4% learn about AI through formal education, and a meagre 2% through their workplaces or professional training.

What also stands out is uncertainty. While nearly 47% of people felt AI’s social impact was largely positive, 40% had no clear leaning either way. So while AI is becoming more influential, it does not seem to be visible or real enough in everyday life for many to form solid opinions.

Economic threat is a central concern: people have worries about being replaced or devalued by machines, or targeted by scams.

But trust in both government and big tech is measured and pragmatic. It’s hoped that big tech will help provide connectivity and jobs. The government is seen as most trustworthy when it comes to using AI in areas like health and education.

Yet, these are the very areas where unease surfaced. Respondents called for lines to be drawn with unsupervised, AI-driven care tasks. They felt that learning based on human experience should be preserved. Social media, while a key source of AI-related information, is also a site of worry, especially around data privacy and children’s exposure to harmful content. People felt there should be guardrails and human oversight.

Looking ahead at the next 10 years, respondents said they hoped AI would help create a better future, especially in health and job creation.

How was the survey conducted?

Since 2003 the Human Sciences Research Council has been capturing how South Africans experience social change through the annual National Social Attitudes Survey. This time, the think tank Global Center on AI Governance contributed an AI-specific component to the survey through its project The African Observatory on Responsible AI, funded by the AI4D programme of the International Development Research Centre of Canada and the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, UK.

Trained fieldworkers surveyed a diverse cross-section of South Africans, covering all nine provinces, both rural and urban areas. They interviewed people over the age of 16 across a range of socio-economic backgrounds and in their preferred official language. Over 3,000 people were interviewed.

The survey included both structured and open-ended questions, asking how people learnt about these technologies, how they felt about their impact, and the degree of trust they placed in different institutions using them.

The findings offer rare evidence into the social views shaping the ways AI may be taken up or contested, and how public opinion might start to inform decisions about how technology is shaped and used.

What can we learn from these findings?

The survey shows how difficult it is to get to grips with a technology like AI in a country where there is a stark digital divide. Access to information is uneven, trust in institutions is limited, and there isn’t a shared language to understand or question AI use. For many, AI remains largely opaque and abstract.

This matters because a lack of basic knowledge prevents meaningful public debate about AI.

Uncertainty and lack of information open the door for hype, misinformation, even exploitation. There’s a danger that fears about AI replacing human skills and jobs will overshadow more optimistic views of its possible benefits.

Still, there’s a cautious hope that AI can improve livelihoods and access to information. Concerns about technology are less about it taking over and more about how to use it or even just access it.

This is a crucial moment because public opinion about AI is still developing. Policy-makers and tech leaders across sectors have an opportunity to define AI’s use and value from a people-centred perspective.

What needs to be done about this?

To bridge the knowledge gaps and address uneven access to information, AI literacy needs to be established on a common understanding. For example in India, the Indian Institute of Technology has launched a free online training course on all aspects of AI for teachers, so that they can pass knowledge on to their students.

AI literacy efforts should be built on shared language and rooted in daily concerns and aspirations, allowing people to relate AI to their personal experiences.

Companies must invest and build AI in collaboration with local communities. Civil society organisations and researchers have a vital role to play in raising awareness, tracking harms and ringing alarm bells when accountability in AI use is sidestepped.

Public projects can help educate and inform South Africans about AI. For example, the University of the Western Cape partnered with a theatre company and a high school to create The Final Spring, a play about a robot. Storytelling can help translate complex ideas about technology into accessible, culturally resonant forms of AI literacy.

As South Africa moves towards a national AI strategy following the publication of a National AI Policy Framework, the focus must be on broadening access to reliable information on AI, not just through schools, but also for older generations and others who feel left out of the discourse.

The Conversation