Fedsas reports 'systemic' education failures to Human Rights Commission

The Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (Fedsas) has lodged a formal complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission, citing ongoing failures by eight of the nine provincial education departments to uphold children's constitutional rights.

Juané van der Merwe-Mocke, Fedsas deputy CEO and head of legal services, said most education departments carried out their duties with “such negligence and incompetence that it amounts to a direct infringement of children’s basic rights”.

The Free State is the only province not implicated.

“There are no second chances for these learners. Each school day lost is a constitutional failure with lifelong consequences,” said Van der Merwe.

The organisation said failures were not due to isolated incidents or temporary challenges but were results of long-term neglect. These failures include delays in appointing teachers to funded vacant posts, , poor management of nutrition and pupil transport programmes.

“These failures contribute to a deepening inequality between state schools,” said Van der Merwe-Mocke.

“Well-resourced schools can absorb the impact of these failures to some extent, while no-fee schools are entirely dependent on provincial education departments.”

Fedsas said it had tried many times to raise the alarm with education authorities through letters, formal presentations and forums with the department of basic education, but received little or no response.

It said these failures violated several sections of the constitution, including the right to dignity, right to basic education, right to food and right to equality and acting in the best interest of the child.

“The right to basic education is not aspirational. The constitution stipulates that it is immediately realisable, enforceable and unconditional. The state is not at liberty to ration access to teachers, infrastructure or operational funding based on internal dysfunction. Bureaucratic red tape is robbing children of their future.”

The complaint was lodged in line with the organisation's role in representing nearly 2,000 state schools and is also intended to hold education departments accountable.

“The cost of continued inaction is not merely statistical — it is measured in dignity denied, futures stolen, and trust broken.”

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