Speech by the Minister of Basic Education, Ms Siviwe Gwarube 2025/26 Budget Vote Speech
Theme: Builders vs Breakers: Shaping South Africa’s Future Through Education
Honourable Speaker, Honourable Members, and Fellow South Africans —
In every generation, a choice must be made: to be a builder or a breaker.
Builders roll up their sleeves, confront hard truths, lead, and work every day to strengthen our schools, support our teachers and uplift every learner.
Breakers, on the other hand, sow division, undermine progress and sacrifice the future of our children for cheap political point scoring.
This budget is for the builders — those who understand that lasting change is not forged in the headlines, but in classrooms and communities where our children learn, dream and grow.
Therefore, I say this to the breakers: our children deserve better. If you cannot build, at least do not stand in the way of those who do.
In the past year, we have laid strong foundations to restore the public’s confidence in basic education.
We committed to five key priorities:
1. Expanding access to quality Early Childhood Development
2. Strengthening foundational literacy and numeracy
3. Advancing inclusive education
4. Supporting teacher training and professional management
5. Improving school infrastructure, safety and learner well-being
Over the past year, I undertook a national Listening and Learning Tour, visiting more than 50 schools across all provinces and engaging with leaders and school communities.
We have made real progress.
Foundational learning remains central. A child who cannot read, write and calculate with meaning and confidence will struggle in every other subject.
Informed by international benchmarking studies and our own Systemic Evaluation, showing that 8 in 10 children in South Africa cannot read for meaning by Grade 4, we launched a strategic shift to improve foundational learning.
This strategy – endorsed by Cabinet – places focus on expanding access to quality ECD and early-grade literacy and numeracy.
We hosted the Bana Pele Leadership Summit where stakeholders affirmed their commitment to the 2030 ECD Strategy.
We intensified efforts to register more ECD programmes under the care and oversight of education departments, aiming to register ten thousand ECD centres in the current financial year, especially in under-resourced areas.
Sizimisele ukuqinisekisa ukuba wonke umntana weli ufumana ithuba lwemfundo esegangathweni besebancinci.
Siyayazi ukuba xa abantwana befundiswa kwiminyaka yabo apho bana 0- 4; baye bagqhwese esikolweni kwiminyaka eye ilandele.
We are prioritising the Children’s Amendment Bill for introduction into Parliament in the current financial year to create a more enabling ECD framework and enhance government oversight and support.
At the same time, we are developing curriculum-aligned learning materials and a national HR strategy to professionalise ECD.
In the Foundation Phase, we have continued rolling out Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education — training teachers in bilingual methods and providing quality support materials.
Abaphandi noochwepheshe bezemfundo kumhlaba wonke bayavumelana ukuba xa abantwana befundiswa ngolwimi lwabo lwasekhaya, bayakhawuleza bazifunde kwa kamsinya izifundo ekuye kuthiwe zinzima njenge ziBalo (Maths) ne Nzululwazi (Science).
The Funza Lushaka Bursary Scheme and teacher development efforts are being augmented to prioritise Foundation Phase teaching, aligned to our focus on literacy and numeracy.
We are reviewing Post Provisioning Norms to improve teacher distribution and buffer provinces against budget pressures.
In addition, we are updating the National Catalogue for Grades 1 to 3 to ensure learners receive high-quality, curriculum-aligned materials.
We anticipate this new National Catalogue being in place by 2026 for procurement for the 2027 school year.
Quality teaching is the greatest enabler of quality learning outcomes.
We are therefore auditing all training and professional development offerings for teachers to strengthen –
• the teaching of literacy and numeracy;
• effective classroom management;
• and the professional management of our schools.
On inclusive education, we have increased allocations for assistive devices and strengthened sector coordination.
We advanced the review of White Paper 6 on Inclusive Education – work that will shape how the sector continues to build an adaptive education system that accommodates diverse learning needs.
There is still much work to do to ensure that special schools and ordinary public schools are fully inclusive spaces for all learners.
Malungu eNational Assembly, siyayazi ukuba esikabiphi ekuqinisekiseni abantwana abakhubazekileyo bayilifumana ithuba lokufunda as is enshrined in our Constitution. Yiyo lonto sifuna ukunyusa isantya salomsebenzi.
We’ve made progress on school infrastructure and safety, completing 97% of sanitation projects under the SAFE initiative (as of today), and supporting provinces to eradicate the remaining unsafe sanitation facilities.
We are reviewing the Public School Infrastructure Regulations to strengthen oversight and enforcement. This review will be completed this year with public input.
We have signed the new national School Safety Protocol with SAPS and begun developing disaster management guidelines for schools – especially following the Mthatha tragedies that claimed lives of many and damaged schools.
We are reviewing the provincial school nutrition models to improve efficiency, financial management, and the impact of this programme. Every day, 9.7 million learners depend on this programme for a meal, and we cannot afford to fail them.
Furthermore, we have actively supported the sector in implementing the BELA Act, which came into effect on 24 December 2024.
This includes training of provincial officials, interim guidelines and an extensive suite of draft regulations.
The first two regulations, focused on admissions and capacity, will be published in the coming weeks for public comment, with further regulations to follow.
Honourable members, predictably, the breakers will come to this podium and pretend that no progress has been made in this regard.
The truth is, they seek to politicise the implementation of the BELA Act for their own narrow party-political ends and not for the 13,5 million learners in our schools.
I will stand firmly for THOSE 13,5 million learners!
This this work continues with pace.
Even as we strengthen these foundations, we must address the challenges facing the sector – many of them fiscal in nature.
The reality is that our sector faces significant financial pressures, especially in provinces where service delivery mostly occurs.
Years of bailing out failing SOEs instead of investing in education have caused real harm. This has led to:
- Unfilled posts due to compensation ceilings;
- Infrastructure backlogs;
- Interruptions to key learner support services;
- And non-payment of school allocations in some provinces.
These are threats to the right to education.
I have directed all provinces to submit credible financial recovery plans — to be reviewed in July — addressing vacant posts, delivery breakdowns, ghost employees, and compliance with funding norms.
Provinces must ring-fence spending on teaching and learning, infrastructure and learner support. No space exists for vanity projects.
We are activating oversight tools available under the National Education Policy Act. Where necessary, we will escalate failures through intergovernmental mechanisms and this Parliament.
We urgently need additional funding for compulsory Grade R, as required by the BELA Act.
We were unable to secure additional funding from the National Treasury for this important undertaking, meaning that provinces must fund this within their allocated budgets.
We look to the National Treasury to secure additional funding to ensure universal Grade R access.
In the coming weeks I will be constituting an advisory body, the National Education and Training Council, to advise me on matters including school resourcing, teacher workloads and progression and promotion requirements. Whether the pass mark should be 30,40 or 50% in which subjects must be subjected to a well researched process of experts and not feel good statements shouted from roof tops and twitter streets. We must be responsible with the curriculum of our children.
This is what it means to be a builder: to act with discipline, agility and purpose in the face of constraint, protecting children’s education at all costs.
This year’s budget is a signal of our continued commitment to targeted investments that close gaps and unlock every learner’s potential.
The DBE receives a total budget of over R35 billion – an increase of over 8% from last year.
Resources are focused on where they will have the greatest impact, aligned with our five national priorities.
Investing in the early years will yield the greatest returns.
The ECD Conditional Grant therefore increases to over R1.7 billion; with over R230 million allocated to an ECD Nutrition Pilot and R162 million set aside for ECD infrastructure.
Our goal is clear: every child must enter Grade R ready to learn in all respects.
Our strategy centres on foundational learning – ensuring all children can read and calculate by age ten.
Over R4.6 billion is therefore allocated to Curriculum Policy Support and Monitoring – an increase of over 14% enabling national oversight, teacher support and curriculum delivery.
Our R1.2 billion Workbook Programme will continue to provide quality learning materials from Grades R to 9 — including Braille and adaptive formats.
While workbooks support teaching and learning, they are not substitutes for quality teaching.
R57 million over the medium term will support learners who are not being taught in their mother-tongue through the rollout of mother-tongued based bilingual education.
Our message is simple: Reading is non-negotiable, and the Foundation Phase is where the battle for equity and excellence must be won.
We are building an inclusive system that removes barriers to learning for learners with diverse education needs.
We will continue:
- Supporting full-service and special schools through the Inclusive Education conditional grant;
- And monitoring provincial spending on assistive devices, transport and teacher aides.
District teams are being strengthened to offer diagnostic support.
No reform succeeds without empowered teachers. That’s why we’re investing more in their development.
Over R1.8 billion therefore supports teacher training, mentorship and leadership.
The Funza Lushaka bursary scheme will fund over 9,000 students focused on priority subjects and Foundation Phase education. Recruitment will prioritise candidates willing to teach in rural and high-need areas.
Teachers are the single most important in-school resource influencing learning outcomes. We must continue to support and professionalise them.
Learning depends on safety, infrastructure and nutrition – all funded by this budget.
The R15.3 billion Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG) will be used by provinces to eliminate pit toilets, expand classrooms and repair schools.
R10 billion will feed over 9 million learners daily while we’re improving menus, delivery and local sourcing.
This budget reflects our constitutional duty and belief in education as the most powerful lever for transformation.
To the builders – teachers, officials, parents, civil society, stakeholders and members of this House – this budget is for you.
To the breakers, I say again: if you cannot or will not build, please do not stand in the way of those who do.
I thank the Deputy Minister, the Director-General, our national and provincial officials, our public entities, our teachers, our stakeholders and, most importantly, the learners of South Africa.
Support this budget, not out of party loyalty, but in the service of the children whose futures depend on it.
Ndiyabulela!
Baie Dankie!
Thank you!
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