The Western Cape High Court has ruled that the Western Cape Education Department's learner admissions system unfairly discriminates against Black and marginalised learners. Equal Education and the Equal Education Law Centre welcomed the decision after challenging the department's practices. The organisations had approached the court in April over failures to place late applicants in schools.
Equal Education (EE) and the Equal Education Law Centre (EELC) have expressed support for a recent Western Cape High Court ruling declaring the Western Cape Education Department's Learner Admissions system discriminatory. The court found that the system's shortcomings violate the rights to dignity and equality for Black and marginalised learners, particularly those applying late in the process.
The organisations initiated legal action in April, seeking a declaration that the department's failure to adequately plan for and promptly place late applicant learners in schools is unconstitutional. This issue predominantly affects areas with high concentrations of Black learners, where families report annual struggles to secure school placements.
Sithenkosi James, a representative from the EELC, highlighted the human impact: “All of those areas are actually where you find the majority of Black learners – so when they came to us to tell us of all the lived experiences each and every year – the fact that they spent the entire year without having been placed in a school – it raised so much concern for us, and that’s when we decided that it is actually something that we need to take up with the department. Before we came to a point where there was litigation instituted against the Western Cape Education Department, there were letters that we sent out to the department, outlining all of these issues.”
EE also shared concerns on social media about related concepts like collaboration schools and donor-funded facilities, warning of potential long-term consequences for education if unchallenged. The ruling underscores ongoing debates around equitable access in South Africa's schooling system.