CHILDREN FIRST: How you can put early childhood learning needs on municipal agendas
Ahead of the 2026 local government elections, the Real Reform for ECD movement has been rallying ECD practitioners to push municipal candidates to prioritise early learning and reduce red tape around centre registration. People across the country can take their own steps to use the Integrated Development Plan process to put ECD on the local government agenda.
As the 2026 local government elections approach, a movement called Real Reform for Early Childhood Development (ECD) is urging ECD practitioners to convince municipal candidates to prioritize early learning and simplify registration processes. The movement has been holding community meetings across the country, where candidates have been asked to make public commitments to addressing ECD centre needs.
The Department of Basic Education aims for universal access to quality early learning by 2030, but many centres face obstacles in silver- and gold-level registration, preventing them from accessing the R24 per child per day subsidy.
Tshepo Mantjé, ECD coordinator with the Equality Collective and Real Reform for ECD, emphasized the importance of municipal awareness and support for early childhood development centres. During the campaign's first and second quarters of 2026, the movement conducted listening tours in 20 municipalities across the country's nine provinces, gathering input from early learning practitioners about their concerns.
Key issues identified included unreliable water access, delayed environmental health inspections, and infrastructure challenges, such as land use and zoning problems for centres.
In the campaign's second phase, the feedback from the listening tours was used to create specific manifestos for each municipality, which were presented to local government candidates at meetings and sent to office-seekers in communities where in-person gatherings were not possible. The next step involves monitoring the implementation of these promises by elected officials and providing ECD practitioners with necessary resources and guidance.
Written by urgent.news from Daily Maverick's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
