Note to Editors: Please find Sakhile Mngadi, MPL sound bites in English and isiZulu
The DA has lodged a formal complaint with KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Education MEC, Sipho Hlomuka, following the unlawful and discriminatory expulsion of a Grade 10 learner at Dlabesuthe High School in the uMzinyathi District, based on the fact that she is pregnant.
The DA is outraged by this decision and has called on the MEC to immediately intervene and reverse the illegal expulsion. Not only is it a blatant violation of this learner’s constitutional rights, it also perpetuates a cycle of vulnerability and poverty that teenage mothers often face.
The actions of the school – forcing a young girl out of the education system unless she is accompanied by her mother to act as a “midwife” – are not only heartless but also in direct contravention of the Constitution of South Africa (Section 29), which guarantees every child the right to basic education.
Furthermore, the school’s unilateral decision disregards the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE) Policy on the Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy in Schools (2021), which explicitly prohibits schools from discriminating against pregnant learners.
This school has also ignored the newly signed Basic Education Laws Amendment Act (32 of 2024), which reinforces the responsibility of schools to support and retain pregnant learners.
While the DA acknowledges that teenage pregnancy is a serious social issue, we firmly reject the idea that pregnancy should be a barrier to education. Denying a young mother the right to learn only deepens her vulnerability and increases her risk of long-term poverty.
Education is the most powerful tool to break the cycle of disadvantage, yet this school has chosen to push a learner further into hardship instead of offering support.
The DA will not stand by while this learner’s rights are trampled upon, by either the school management or the DBE. Aside from lodging a complaint with MEC Hlomuka we will:
– Engage the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to investigate this clear case of discrimination and human rights violations
– Escalate the matter to parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Basic Education to demand accountability from the DoE for failing to enforce its policies and;
– Conduct our own fact-finding oversight to Dlabesuthe High School in a bid to ensure that the learner is immediately reinstated.
The DA will not allow schools to impose unlawful, harmful, and patriarchal barriers to education. The DBE must act decisively to hold those responsible to account and ensure that every school in South Africa upholds the constitutional rights of all learners—regardless of their circumstances.