Schools have reopened in Gauteng, but Michael is begging at these traffic lights because he is undocumented.
PHOTO: Kimberly Mutandiro, GroundUp
- many undocumented children of immigrant parents fight for places in South African schools.
- The online school record placement system requires documentation, and most public schools insist on it.
- Private schools accept undocumented children, but the fees are too high for most parents.
It’s 10:00 a.m. and 9-year-old Michael is begging at a traffic light in Johannesburg. Most of the kids his age go back to school after the holidays. But Michael is undocumented.
He hasn’t been to school since 2021, when he used to attend a private school. His family could not afford to keep him there, and the school also notified him that he would need to provide certain documentation if he wanted to continue classes, GroundUp reported.
His two brothers and his widowed mother sometimes join Michael at stoplights to beg motorists. They usually spread out to increase your chances of getting something.
Michael and one of his sisters were born in South Africa. The youngest was born in Zimbabwe and came to South Africa when he was a baby. The older brother used to go to school but the younger one has never been to school.
“Why aren’t you at school?” motorists have asked. Children do not know how to respond. They want to go to school.
“I want to be in school, but my mother says we don’t have papers. Being in front of robots is boring, but we have no choice because we need food,” Michael said.
Michael’s mother said:
Not being able to send my children to school is heartbreaking. My children do not have Zimbabwean or South African papers because we have been in Johannesburg for a long time.
The online school placement system requires documents for registration, so parents go to schools in person, door to door, only to be turned away. Michael’s mother tried various public schools, but they insisted that she provide documents.
READ | Gauteng family tightens purse strings to go to private school after boy was rejected by 5 public schools
Some private schools accept undocumented children, but charge fees ranging from R500 to R1,500 per month. Most undocumented immigrant parents do not have enough or stable income to cover this.
Smangaliso, from Bulawayo in Zimbabwe but originally from Mozambique, acquired Zimbabwean citizenship just a few years ago. He brought his grandchildren, ages 9 and 11, to Johannesburg three years ago after his father’s death. He has not found a public school that is prepared to receive them without documents.
“It’s not easy to come home to Bulawayo. At least here (Johannesburg) I can buy food with the money I earn selling sweets… My grandchildren need an education… I don’t know what to do,” she said.
Rudo, a secretary by profession, lost her job due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Her children have been at home for the last year because she cannot afford the R950 a month she paid to keep them in a private school.
She said:
South Africa is the only home they know. All I want is for them to go to school, but it’s not as easy as that.
Isolated Zimbabwean Women in South Africa (Ziwisa) has compiled a database of children living in inner-city Johannesburg who are in isolation.
“There are about 1,000 migrant children from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Congo and Lesotho [who] we have recorded so far, that they do not go to school due to lack of documentation,” said Ethel Musonza of Ziwisa.
“While some [children] might be lucky enough to be enrolled in primary school, it’s hard to get a place in secondary school,” he said.
Immigrant children’s registration certificates are missing the 13-digit South African identification number and its validity is often questioned.
“In Johannesburg, there are a number of private schools that offer the Cambridge University secondary school system to allow immigrant children to have usable certificates, but those schools are expensive,” Musonza said.
Cambridge system registration certificates do not require South African identification numbers and the system is generally preferred by many immigrants.
Ziwisa, in collaboration with Bishop Paul Verryn of the Johannesburg Methodist Church, is raising funds for a school for immigrant children.
“The project will serve all children, including undocumented children,” Verryn said. She added that the school would have to charge a small fee.
“We will also offer the Cambridge University curriculum to cater for immigrant children without ID numbers or birth certificates. All children have the right to attend school.”
“The Albert School, which was operating on the premises of the Methodist Church, catered only to Zimbabweans who were struggling with school placement, but has now been officially closed. If a new school opens, it will make a difference to life of children in need,” Verryn said.
