GDE DISPELS FALSE “HUNGER STALKS GAUTENG PUPILS” CLAIMS

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ONLINE EDITOR @KASIBC_AFRICA  

GDE DISPELS FALSE “HUNGER STALKS GAUTENG PUPILS” CLAIMS

The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) notes with concern the misleading and alarmist headline published by a national publication, titled “Hunger Stalks Gauteng Pupils.” This claim is factually incorrect and has caused unnecessary alarm among the public and school communities. It is unfortunate that the publication chose to ignore the detailed official response by the Department on this specific matter and selectively used minimal information while disregarding some facts shared by the Department prior to publishing. 

To set the record straight, the matter relates specifically to one service provider operating under the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni. 

The Department became aware on Wednesday, 15 October 2025, that this service provider refused to accept a newly allocated delivery schedule and consequently failed to deliver food to nine (9) schools, and attempted to deliver food at schools not allocated to the said service provider.  It must be noted that a meeting was scheduled on Thursday, 9 October 2025, where delivery schedules were discussed with all service providers and shared accordingly. 

A majority of service providers started with their deliveries on Friday, 10 October 2025, which continued over the weekend before the start of Term 4. We can confirm that some service providers continued to augment their deliveries throughout the week. As a contingency, we have today on Thursday, 16 October 2025, utilised other service providers to deliver food to all nine affected schools in Tembisa and Ivory Park. Irrespective of this unfortunate delay, all deserving children were served a meal accordingly.  

OVER 150 000 ONLINE ADMISSIONS PLACEMENT OFFERS SENT TO PARENTS ON FIRST DAY 

The Placement Period for the 2026 Online Admissions for Grade 1 and Grade 8 commenced on Thursday, 16 October 2025, with 150 548 placement offers sent to parents and guardians with Complete Applications by 10h00 this morning.  Placement offers will continue to be sent to parents & guardians via SMS throughout the remainder of the year until all learners are placed. Parents are reminded to log on to www.gdeadmissions.gov.za within 7 days of receiving a placement offer to accept the placement as final, which confirms the learner at that school, or accept the placement while awaiting other offers. 

Placement offers accepted as final cannot be reversed. For enquiries, the GDE Contact Centre is operating extended hours: - Monday to Thursday: 07h00 – 17h00 - ⁠ Friday: 07h30 – 16h30  - ⁠ Saturday: 09h00 – 13h00 Contact us on: - Toll-free: 0800 000 789 - ⁠ WhatsApp: 060 891 0361 - ⁠ Email: gdeinfo@gauteng.gov.za 

TRAGIC LOSS OF TWO LEARNERS IN RIVERLEA SHOOTING INCIDENT 

The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) is deeply saddened by the tragic passing of two Grade 8 learners from Riverlea Secondary School in Johannesburg, who were fatally shot on Wednesday, 15 October 2025. This heartbreaking incident has sent shockwaves through the school community, leaving families, friends, educators, and fellow learners devastated by the loss of such young lives. 

The Department extends its heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and the entire school community during this profoundly difficult time.

In response, a Psychosocial Support Team has been dispatched to the affected school to provide immediate trauma counselling and emotional support to learners, educators, and staff members. “The Department condemns all forms of violence and criminal activity that threaten the safety and wellbeing of learners in our communities. This tragic event underscores the urgent need for collective action to curb gun violence and safeguard our children’s right to learn and grow in safe environments. 

We wish to convey our condolences to the families and the school community,” said Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane. 

GDE PROVIDES CLARITY ON INFRASTRUCTURE CONCERNS AT WEDELA TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL 

The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) wishes to confirm that over the past five financial years, a total of R1.32 million was allocated to maintenance, at Wedela Technical School. Accordngly, a number of projects were also completed at the school. 

These include the replacement of a stolen fence with a brick wall, repair of windowpanes and ceramic tiles, roof painting, installation of paving and floor drainage systems in the workshops, and sealing and painting of workshop roofs, internal walls, epoxy floors, hand wash basins, and office ceilings. 

The total expenditure on these completed projects was R2.43 million. To address recurring electricity and water challenges, the Department assessed infrastructure needs, requested a new transformer, installed a standby generator - which was later sadly vandalised - and provided water storage tanks. In the interim, clean drinking water has been supplied through water tankers. 

Frequent burglaries and vandalism continue to hamper infrastructure sustainability. Despite these challenges, practical lessons continue with the use of a standby generator to operate machinery, such as lathes and welders. The Department estimates that restoring Wedela Technical High School to a fully functional and safe condition will cost R7.98 million, covering civil works such as water storage tanks and booster pumps, plumbing works including replacement of vandalised pipes, sanitary fittings, drinking fountains, doors, and toilet painting, replacement of the vandalised fence, and electrical works including a new 500kVA mini-sub transformer, circuit breakers, solar flood lights, light fittings, cables and wiring, switches, and plugs. 

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