Young survivors of the Usindiso inferno unplaced in schools — 17 months later

As thousands of children across Gauteng began the 2025 academic year on Wednesday, the 65 pupils displaced by the devastating Usindiso building fire remain in limbo as the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has yet to place them in schools as ordered by the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Johannesburg.

The order came after a case brought by the Equal Education Law Centre on behalf of parents of learners affected by the fire, who in November 2024 marked 15 months out of school.

Read more here: Court orders Gauteng Education Department to place 65 pupils in school after Usindiso fire

Yolisa Piliso, an attorney with the Equal Education Law Centre, told Daily Maverick that “when we got back after the holidays, we learnt that the Gauteng Department of Education had informed us that all of the learners affected will be placed by the 17th of January 2025, which is Friday.

“Sadly then it means that this group of learners yet again will miss the first day of the school day as a result of delays by the department. We also understand that there must be plans put in place for these learners, given that they missed the entire academic year of 2024.”

Human rights activist Andrew Chinnah, who has been working closely with the Usindiso community in the aftermath of the fire, said that if and when the children are placed, they should first undergo psycho-educational (psych-edu) assessments before the department simply placed them in a grade based on their age.

“The psych-edu assessments will have a direct positive impact years from now and when those children matriculate. If they are placed without an assessment they will be lost in the system,” he said.

Bodies of victims are lined up after a devastating fire engulfed the Usindiso building in Marshalltown, Johannesburg, on 31 August 2023, killing 76 people. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

However, it seems the issue with the young Usindiso fire survivors is just the tip of the iceberg – thousands of parents faced a similar hurdle on Wednesday when they tried to place their children in schools as the 2025 academic year began.

Placement does not only refer to the child being allocated any school, but a school closer to their place of residence that the child can easily access on foot, in contrast to a school further away which can be expensive and dangerous given scholar transport safety issues. 

eNCA reported that the GDE had extended online placement deadlines for Grades 1 and 8 to 30 January, but frustrated parents say they are spending hours in queues outside district offices with little to no assistance.

Thousands of parents are hoping to find placement for their children as the 2025 academic year begins. The Gauteng Education Department has extended the online placement deadlines for Grades 1 and 8 to the 30th of January, but frustrated parents say they are spending hours in… pic.twitter.com/VkJ50bldWw

— eNCA (@eNCA) January 15, 2025

As of last month, the GDE reported it had registered 344,890 placement applications for Grades 1 and 8. Of these 325,858 had been completed and qualified for placement while 19,032 applications remained incomplete.

“Parents submitted the 19,032 applications without any valid proof of home address which made it impossible for the department to offer placement and so these applications will be placed during the late application period, which runs from the 11th of December 2024 to 30 January 2025,” the report read.

On addressing the placement challenges, the department said the Treasury had approved additional funding of R207-million for classrooms, procurement of mobile units and satellite schools.

• The Gauteng Department of Education had not responded to Daily Maverick’s questions by the time of publication. The questions, sent on Monday morning and followed up with telephone calls and messages, are as follows:

1. How many guardians or parents of the young victims have approached the Department for assistance with school placements?


2. Before the court order, had any parents sought assistance from the Department for related matters?


3. I would also like to get confirmation if the 65 learners have been placed in schools and will resume schooling, as required by the court order, this Wednesday?


4. Furthermore, given that the challenges faced by the victims extend beyond school placements:

• What form of support has been provided to address issues such as access to uniforms, stationery, or other necessities?


• Have any learners been placed in schools closer to or far from their accommodation, leaving parents with the burden of covering scholar transport costs? DM