President Cyril Ramaphosa arrives at Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre in Boksburg and is received by Minister of Basic Education,Siviwe Gwarube, to attend the 2026 Basic Education Sector Lekgotla. Picture: GCIS President Cyril Ramaphosa has acknowledged deep-seated problems in South Africa’s education system, warning that without urgent intervention, the country risks undermining its future growth and social development. Delivering the keynote address at the 2026 Basic Education Sector Lekgotla in Ekurhuleni on Wednesday, Ramaphosa outlined five critical challenges that government and society must confront.
These include skills shortages, hurdles to mother tongue-based education, weak early learning foundations, high school dropout rates, and unsafe scholar transport. The president opened his address by mourning the deaths of 14 children killed in a school transport accident earlier this week. He observed a moment of silence for the young lives lost.
“We mourn this loss deeply and extend our condolences to the families, teachers and classmates of the children who lost their lives. We wish those who were injured in the crash a speedy recovery,” the president added. He urged immediate action to ensure scholar transport was “safe and reliable”, stressing that quality education was impossible without safe and healthy learning environments.
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“We cannot accept that young lives are put at risk as they seek the growth and enrichment that an education provides,” Ramaphosa said. Ramaphosa warned that the slow growth of vocational and occupational education was worsening South Africa’s skills crisis. “Our economy urgently needs these skills to drive our country’s growth,” he said, adding that basic education must do more to prepare pupils for a “skills revolution”.
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