Gauteng warns parents about school placement scammers
The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has warned parents about alleged fraudsters offering placements in schools in the province for the 2026 school year in exchange for bribes.
It specifically warned about an individual going by the name Godfrey, who claims to be employed by the GDE in Tshwane—a claim the department has confirmed is false.
This comes after parents sounded the alarm about not receiving their children’s school placements from the GDE, despite placements having been in place since 16 October 2025.
As a result, civil society organisation AfriForum called on Matome Chiloane, the MEC for Education in Gauteng, to provide clarity.
The department stated in a press release on 4 November that it began sending placement offers to parents via SMS and through the Online Admissions System starting from 16 October.
“We wish to assure all parents and guardians that the placement process is ongoing and offers are still being issued daily,” the department said.
“Every applicant with a complete application will receive a placement offer; there are no technical delays.”
It added that if a parent receives a placement offer, they are encouraged to accept it as final. If no other offers are received within seven days, the GDE states that other schools to which applications were submitted may have reached capacity.
Should parents wish to object to a placement outcome, they need to decline the placement offer by completing the electronic objection form online, which must be submitted within seven days of receipt.
These objections will then be reviewed based on merit, and outcomes will be communicated to parents within two weeks.
This outcome may be appealed, which will take a further 14 to 21 days to finalise, after which the result is final.
“Parents and guardians are once again reminded to refrain from engaging with any individual who claims to offer placement assistance in exchange for money,” Chiloane said.
“All communication from the GDE regarding placements is officially sent to applicants via SMS and the Online Admissions System. Parents are urged to remain patient and vigilant as we finalise the placement of every learner.”
The GDE states that the following criteria determine placement offers. These are applied in order of priority and not on a first-come, first-served basis:
- Home address within the school’s feeder zone
- Sibling(s) or previous school
- Work address within the school’s feeder zone
- Home address within a 30 km radius
- Home address beyond a 30 km radius
Learners who do not receive an offer from any of the schools to which they applied will receive transfer offers from the next closest school with available space.
The same issues resurface
Parents in Pretoria and Centurion have made multiple complaints to AfriForum regarding incorrect or missing placements for learners in the 2026 school year.
The problems, which were also previously seen, have resurfaced this year, including the lack of correspondence or feedback on placements received.
“It is concerning that the placements have still not been completed by the first week of November,” AfriForum said.
Furthermore, incomplete communication about learners’ placement status puts parents under pressure.
“Conditional choices are accepted as final placements by the system even though they are not the learner’s or parents’ first choice,” it said.
“The placements are still ongoing, but there is a lot of uncertainty about when they will be completed and when the next group of learners will be placed.”
Carien Bloem, head of education projects at AfriForum, said the system is supposed to make the process easier for parents and schools.
“However, after so many years, the Gauteng Department of Education still cannot manage to make the process run problem-free,” she said.
Bloem said they were investigating the situation and had made a serious appeal to Chiloane via an attorney’s letter to provide clarity on the problems.
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