Lesufi decries Gauteng pass rate that dips below its target

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has decried the province’s failure to achieve a 90% matric pass rate, threatening to allocate a lower performance score for the provincial education MEC Matome Chiloane.

Lesufi was speaking during the release of the province’s class of 2023 matric results at Microsoft Corporate Office in Bryanston, Johannesburg, on Friday, 19 January 2024.

He said the performance agreement with Chiloane was that the province should achieve 90%.

Lesufi appointed Chiloane in 2022 when he was elected to be premier.

Only '3 out of 10'

Chiloane, he said, will be allocated “3 out of 10” ­– which would be an indication for him to “work hard”.

Gauteng’s class of 2023 achieved a pass rate of 85,4%. This is a 0,95% improvement. The class of 2022 achieved 84,4%.

Read more in Daily Maverick: How does the class of 2022 stack up? We compare the matric results to previous years

A total of 191,664 candidates enrolled to sit for the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations in 2023. This is a decrease of 1,6% from the 194,720 that enrolled in 2022.

The class of 2023 candidates comprised 132,570 full-time and 59,094 part-time candidates. Full-time candidates included 7,197 candidates, who progressed from Grade 11 in 2022 to Grade 12 in 2023.

There were 9,125 progressed candidates, who sat for exams in 2022.

Lesufi said directors of education districts that performed above 90% will be rewarded with performance bonuses.

He also urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to sign the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Bill into law and said that teachers should be better paid and taken care of for their contribution in education.

Read more in Daily Maverick: DA rallies against Basic Education Bill adopted by National Assembly

Lesufi said the South African Democratic Teacher’s Union (Sadtu) has left him alone to fight for an inquiry to investigate teacher salaries and insists that teachers need to be taken care of.

Gauteng’s top achievers at the announcement of the 2023 Gauteng Matric results in Bryanston. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

Provincial picture

Chiloane said the class of 2023’s sustained performance confirms that the province’s education system is a stable and resilient system.

He said Gauteng is the only province to offer all 11 official languages and at least 10 non-official languages – making the provincial education system a global player for development.

“It further demonstrates that this is a system that is benefitting from careful planning, direct attention and targeted interventions, despite it being under pressure,” Chiloane said.

This pass rate, he said, needed to be celebrated because of the unique and complex nature of the provincial education system.

He said the province has improved on the actual number of matriculants that achieved a bachelor pass, which is the highest since 1996 and the second highest number in the country.

“Gauteng achieved the highest number of candidates qualifying for Bachelor studies, ever, in 2023, with 56,554, who wrote, qualifying with a Bachelor pass,” he said.

This, Chiloane said, is slightly down from the 58,119 bachelor passes in 2022.

All the province’s 15 districts showed an improvement in the bachelor pass rate.

“Nationally, we contributed 20% of all bachelors achieved countrywide.”

More than 34,937 learners who wrote, passed with a diploma pass – translating to 27,4%.

He said there has also been an increase in the percentage of candidates, who passed at the Higher Certificate level – these are mainly progressed learners. 

District performance

The pass rate for districts is as follows:

• 5% for Johannesburg West;


• 4% for Tshwane South;


• 4% for Gauteng North;


• 7% for Gauteng West;


• 4% for Tshwane North;


• 1% for Johannesburg North;


• 0% for Ekurhuleni North;


• 4% for Johannesburg South;


• 1% for Tshwane West;


• 7% for Sedibeng East;


• 0% for Johannesburg Central;


• 9% for Sedibeng West;


• 2% for Gauteng East


• 8% for Ekurhuleni North; and


• 8% for Johannesburg East

But, Chiloane said there were four districts that had a slight decline due to the impact of the pandemic on learning.

Premier Panyaza Lesufi arrives at the announcement of the 2023 Gauteng Matric results in Bryanston.(Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

Schools with 100% 

Chiloane congratulated Afrikaanse Hoer Meisieskool, Hoerskool Menlopark, Hoerskool Garsfontein, Hoerskool Waterkloof, Parktown High School for Girls, and Hoerskool Randburg.

He also gave a special recognition to Raymond Mhlaba Maths Science & ICT School of Specialisation, located in Tshepisong, Roodepoort, for achieving 100%.

The school, he said, also achieved 95% passes and achieved above 95% bachelor passes.

He applauded Mohaladitoe Secondary School in Sedibeng West for turning around the performance of the school from 56,6% to 93,8%, a staggering improvement of just more than 37,2%.

“In 2009, township schools achieved an average pass rate of 60.1%, with non-township schools achieving 84,2%, making a gap of 24,1 percentage points. In 2023, the gap declined to 9,7%, compared to 8,3% in 2022,” he said.

Township schools achieved a pass rate of 82,3% compared to 80,7% in 2022 and non-township schools achieved 92% compared to 89% in 2022, a notable improvement.

Then 42,5% of progressed learners passed, compared to 45,5% of the progressed learners that wrote in 2022. This is a massive decline when compared to 2022. And 7,4% of these learners who passed, achieved a bachelor pass and almost 16,3% achieved a diploma pass.

He also acknowledged Imbali Combined School, an independent school in Orange Farms that achieved a 100% pass rate and 85% Bachelor passes.

“We urge all independent schools in townships to follow this good example. We also want to acknowledge the following township schools that achieved a pass rate above 100%,” Chiloane said.

He said 297 schools in 2023 achieved above 95%, compared to 290 in 2022.

In 2023, 143 schools achieved 100% compared to 149 in 2022.

“It must also be noted that just over 94,1% [of] Gauteng schools performed above the nationally defined benchmark for school under-performance of 65% compared to 92,6% in 2021.”

Poor performers

Chiloane said authorities will attend to schools that consistently perform below par.

“The issue of underperforming schools must also be resolved, as [are] 34 public and independent schools that achieved less than 65%, compared to 53 public and independent schools in 2022.

“In the next few days, the department will meet with the school management teams of all public schools that performed below 65% and to hold them [accountable] for their poor performance,” he said. DM