President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the official address at the Bana Pele 2030 Roadmap Leadership Summit held at Atlas Studios, Johannesburg on 17 March 2025. “Government's goal is to maximise universal access to quality Early Childhood Development (ECD), which has the potential to break the cycle of poverty in communities,” the President said. The Summit was organised by the DBE in partnership with Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) to build the 2030 Roadmap towards universal quality access by 2030.
President Ramaphosa added that, “investing in ECD is not just about education; it is about shaping the next generation of skilled, capable, entrepreneurial citizens who will drive our economy forward. ECD gives children the foundational skills to build a successful future and allows children from all backgrounds to grow into confident, capable citizens who contribute positively to society. Children who receive a strong start are more likely to succeed in school and the workforce, reducing societal costs in areas such as healthcare, welfare and crime prevention”. President Ramaphosa also commended the DBE for advocating for the mass registration of ECD programmes through the Bana Pele Mass Registration Drive and called on all ECD programmes to register so that all children could receive the start in life that they need and deserve.
Minister Gwarube, in her address, indicated that ECD was key in preparing responsible future citizens: “The first few years of a child's life shape who they'll become, not just as learners in school, but as citizens, as professionals and indeed as future leaders of this country. By 2030, we want every child in South Africa to have access to quality early learning. This goal is not about doing more of the same. It's not about simply throwing more money or resources into a system already under strain. No, this is about doing something impactful! Meaningful! Transformative! This is about rethinking how we deliver ECD”.
As part of the leadership summit, Ms Kulula Manona, Chief Director: Foundations for Learning and Mr Siven Malsmoney from Bana Pele, directed the programme. Foundational learning experts, social partners, business leaders and policymakers applauded Government for making the necessary interventions to strengthen the implementation of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for birth to four years across all early learning programmes. These included the Bana Pele Mass Registration Drive and ECD Practitioners’ capacitation and support to deliver the NCF and ECD Funding. The commissions addressed three pillars, namely: Pillar one: Increased access through newly established ECD; Pillar two: Shifting quality outcomes in existing ECD Programmes; and Pillar three: Resourcing the sector efficiently.
Dr Janeli Kotze, Acting ECD Director, anchored the plenary deliberations by providing the steps towards universal access. The first step is driving access through the Bana Pele Mass Registration Drive; the second step is ensuring that the curriculum delivery model is anchored on the cornerstone of the National Curriculum framework and its LTSM for quality delivery; and lastly, a human resource development plan to ensure sustainability to meet the goal of universal access to quality early learning programmes. Participants urged Government to use Public Private Partnerships as a stepping stone towards attaining the ECD aspirations. The current status of ECD in South Africa recorded nearly 7 million children (ages birth to five), many of whom are from low-income households and 1.3 million children aged 3 to 5 are not attending ECD programmes.
In closing, the Chairperson of BLSA, Ms Nonkululeko Nyembezi, congratulated the leadership summit on providing actions that will lead to universal access to quality early learning programmes by 2030 and looked forward to the strategic execution and delivery of programmes towards the next shared accountability engagement.