{"id":852903,"date":"2026-03-05T11:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=852903"},"modified":"2026-03-05T11:11:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T09:11:24","slug":"huge-problem-for-public-schools-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business-opinion\/852903\/huge-problem-for-public-schools-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Big problem for public schools in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TPN Credit Bureau’s data shows that address fraud is a major problem facing South African public schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In one surveyed school, 40% of applications contained false or misleading address information. Another school saw fraudulent addresses in 20% of Grade 1 applications. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Door-to-door verifications at a separate school showed that 51% of applicants did not live at the address submitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These figures point to a systemic issue, one that directly undermines lawful feeder zone admissions and deprives local learners of their rightful places,” said Ashleigh Laurent and Marissa Badenhorst from TPN Credit Bureau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeder zones are geographic catchment areas used by provincial education departments to manage demand and prioritise learners living near a school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department also looks at siblings who have enrolled at the school or parents who work nearby. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their goal is not to bar learners from applying outside the permitted zone, but to guide the admissions process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While independent schools operate under different rules and may set their own admission criteria, public schools have to apply feeder zones fairly, as per constitutional obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public schools are barred from discriminating based on race, language, religion, citizenship, or financial status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Constitution states that every child has the right to basic education, including undocumented learners. Entrance exams and arbitrary admission conditions are also prohibited. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, schools are entitled to verify applications. Parents will need to submit valid proof of residence. Checks are essential in ensuring fairness when demand exceeds a school’s capacity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parents can do this via municipal utility bills, lease agreements, title deeds, sworn affidavits, or employer letters where work proximity is claimed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A criminal offence<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Laurent and Badenhorst said that the legal consequences of falsifying information have become more severe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amendments to the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act formally criminalised dishonest conduct in school applications. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Act makes it an offence to knowingly submit false or misleading information, or to present forged documents or documents as true copies when they are not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gauteng Department of Education said applications with falsified information can be disqualified, and that parents may be charged with fraud. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to altered documents, schools have begun conducting home visits and database cross-checks. In one case, over half of the addresses did not match the actual residency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The outcome is that learners who genuinely live within feeder zones are displaced, while others endure long daily commutes to maintain a false claim,” said the experts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crucially, submitting false information puts one at risk of rejection, cancellation of admission after placement and criminal liability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parents who believe an admission decision is unlawful must use a formal appeal process. For those who genuinely relocate after an offer is made, transparency is key. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Informing the school of a change of address is far safer than attempting to conceal it. Cooperation with verification measures, including home visits, helps avoid disputes later,” said the experts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Parents should also be cautious of individuals claiming they can secure placement at specific schools for a fee. Education authorities have repeatedly warned that such schemes are fraudulent.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schools also need to apply policies consistently and without discrimination, and verification is a necessary part of this responsibility. Many thus use the TPN Credit Bureau to verify data. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South African government schools are facing monumental address fraud, with parents looking to break feeder zone regulations. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":812806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[15742],"class_list":["post-852903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-opinion","tag-tpn-credit-bureau"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=852903"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":852949,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852903\/revisions\/852949"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}