‘Whoever comes first, I prioritise’: principal defends admission practices

Frustrated parents who claim their kids are being turned away from local schools are demanding they be prioritised over foreigners, placing pressure on principals to defuse potential tension in an already overcrowded system.

But schools surveyed by the Sunday Times say they are doing their best to accommodate all applicants, and deny claims by militant anti-foreigner groups that they are giving preference to foreign pupils.

Johannesburg mother Olwethu Fenako says if her daughter had been admitted to Rosettenville Primary, she would have been able to walk to school. Instead, after failing to secure a place, her grade 5 child schools 10km away. Transport costs R500 a month.

It makes me angry and resentful.  I’m wondering how  I will  pay for transport this month

—  Olwethu Fenako, parent

“They are taking our places. We live with these people and see it happening. It makes me angry and resentful. I’m wondering how I will pay for transport this month,” said Fenako.

Last year applications for places at Gauteng public schools opened on July 24 and closed on August 29. Fenako admitted she approached various schools only in November, as her living arrangements with her daughter had not been settled at the time applications closed.

Sphelele Adolphus Dzanibe, Rosettenville Primary’s principal, said he was not having “sleepless nights” over pickets that occurred sporadically last year.

“I’m in the business of teaching. Protests destabilise the school, make no mistake, but so far we’ve not experienced any violence. Whoever comes first, I prioritise that pupil. It’s as simple as that.”

He said the issue was being politicised, with people trying to get support through protest action.

“I don’t buy into this xenophobia. I don’t care who says what until the government admits it cannot deal with crime. I have worked in this area for many years and all I see is an African child who must be given an opportunity to become better,” said Dzanibe.

In a school registry the Sunday Times has seen, pupils with names suggesting they might be foreigners were in the minority. All the teachers had South African names.

Tensions flared at Addington Primary in Durban when members of the anti-immigrant group March and March Movement, Operation Dudula and the MK Party accused the school of excluding 66 South African pupils and giving priority to foreigners.

[ Foreign pupils constitute only 1.8% of school enrolments in SAOpens in new window ]

The protest led to March and March’s founder, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, being charged with inciting public violence.

On Thursday, KwaZulu-Natal education MEC Sipho Hlomuka visited the school and clarified that out of 1,548 pupils, 968 were locals and the rest foreign nationals.

“The school has enrolled 17 undocumented learners; 12 are South African and only five are foreign nationals,” said Hlomuka.

However, Ngobese-Zuma told the Sunday Times the question was not whether parents had applied on time, but whether the school prioritised locals.

“It’s definitely not an application thing. There are parents who’ve been applying since 2022 to get into that school. We know that by prioritising [foreign pupils] the school sends the message that locals don’t pay school fees — because most of them are on social grants, and so on. But they give exemptions to foreign nationals and not to locals.

“We don’t understand why they think that’s okay. The entire system works against local children. The school needs to be called out, and our government needs to be called out,” said Ngobese-Zuma.

She raised concerns last week about Rosettenville Primary, saying it was among several schools “overtaken” by foreign children.

“Which government in the world prioritises the future of other people’s children while using their own resources? It’s the most ridiculous thing.” She said that even a 20% uptake of foreign pupils was unreasonable.

“If you have 20% of South Africans without school places, why would you reserve 20% for foreign nationals? The situation is frustrating because South Africans have to compete for the few resources available. If the government wants refugees, they must build refugee camps and take care of them,” she said.

The department of basic education’s verified national enrolment data show foreigners make up just 1.8% of South Africa’s total pupil population. Gauteng has the most foreign pupils (128,054), followed by the Western Cape (59,138). The figures include the children of ambassadors, diplomatic missions, UN agencies and other international organisations lawfully present in the country.

The department has repeatedly said the constitution and education legislation guarantee every child in the country the right to basic education, regardless of nationality or documentation status.

In Cape Town, several parents told the Sunday Times their children had been placed in schools far from home, while some foreign pupils had secured places nearby. They insist their concern is over access and fairness, not hostility towards foreign pupils.

[ Gauteng education MEC rejects claims foreigners favoured in school placementsOpens in new window ]

Thandeka Mngxongo, who lives in Parklands, has not been able to place her child at nearby Westriding Primary so the child schools about 10km from home. However, she says she has no problem with foreign pupils.

“They also deserve a quality education. South Africans themselves have children with foreign nationals,” she said. “The problem is that foreign parents don’t want to take their children to township schools so schools in suburbs are full, and we are the ones who must travel far.”

Mngxongo said several pupils at Westriding were foreign, and called on the education department to intervene.

Another parent, Mzoxolo, who asked that his surname not be published, said some foreign parents manipulated the system so their children could attend state schools. They also applied for fee exemptions meant for parents who genuinely cannot afford to pay, with the cost borne by taxpayers.

“Schools should prioritise South Africans,” he said.

Meanwhile, parents of foreign pupils said their children should not be caught in the crossfire of political and social conflicts.

A Congolese mother said she was grateful her children had not experienced xenophobia at school. “Cape Town has been quiet but what is happening in other provinces is scary. We don’t know if it will come here.”

The mother of three said she fled the Congo because of violence. “If there was peace in my country, I would still be at home.

“I applied to a school close by and was lucky enough to get a place.” Whose fault is that?” she asked.

Another foreign parent said: “Our children are innocent. We bring them to these schools because they deserve quality education, a basic right in South Africa. Where should they go?”