In the space of just a few weeks, three of South Africa’s most significant national platforms delivered the same message: Early Childhood Development (ECD) is not a peripheral topic, it’s fundamental to shaping the country’s economic future.
From the Department of Basic Education’s ECD Lekgotla in late January, to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) and Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s Budget Speech in February, the convergence has been unmistakable. And it carries real implications for those delivering early learning on the ground.
At IMBE, where we support women entrepreneurs running ECD centres in communities across most of South Africa, this is a moment to reflect on what this shift means for the sector and for the women at its heart.
Where Policy Meets Practice: The ECD Lekgotla Sets the Tone
The year opened with a clear and urgent declaration from Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, at the ECD Lekgotla. “Eight out of ten Grade 4 learners cannot read for meaning. This is not merely an education challenge; it is a national emergency that demands urgent and decisive action.”
The Minister framed early learning not as a social welfare function but as the bedrock of national development. The real question, she argued, isn’t whether South Africa can afford to invest in foundational literacy and numeracy but whether it can afford not to.
Equally significant was her emphasis on professionalisation. Behind every thriving child stands a capable and supported educator, who in many cases is also a small business owner. For ECD entrepreneurs, this signals a future of higher standards, clearer career pathways and closer integration with the formal schooling system.
A Presidential Mandate: ECD as a National Priority
Three weeks later, President Ramaphosa reinforced this direction, connecting early learning directly to economic competitiveness: “A strong economy relies on a well-educated, capable and skilled population. Our focus now is on establishing a firm foundation for learning in the early years of a child’s life.”
He outlined concrete commitments designed to formalise and strengthen the sector including the Bana Pele mass registration drive, expanded subsidies for children attending ECD programmes and the rollout of compulsory Grade R.
For the women entrepreneurs IMBE supports, the DBE’s Bana Pele mass registration drive is particularly significant. Formalisation opens the door to subsidies, compliance support and long-term sustainability. Many are already navigating this journey, often with limited resources but enormous determination.
From Words to Rands: The Budget Makes It Real
The most tangible affirmation of the importance of ECD came in the Budget. Education remains the largest component of consolidated government expenditure at 23.7% over the medium term. Within this, the ECD grant receives an additional R12.8 billion over the next three years. This allocation is intended to expand services to 300 000 more children, while maintaining the daily per-child subsidy of R24 introduced in 2025/26.
The women IMBE works with have long been delivering essential services often without consistent government support. They provide early learning in communities where alternatives are limited, creating jobs while nurturing children. The viability of their enterprises depends on policy commitments translating into accessible, functional systems.
Progress Requires Partnership
At IMBE, we welcome this alignment between the sector, the Presidency and the Treasury. For too long, ECD has been the quiet priority acknowledged in principle but underfunded in practice. That appears to be changing.
But political will and budget allocations are only the beginning. What matters is whether increased funding translates into better-trained practitioners, supported centres, more accessible registration processes and resources that reach the most vulnerable children.
Across all three platforms, partnership was emphasised as essential and the Bana Pele Shared Blueprint, unveiled at the Lekgotla, articulates exactly why. The early learning system is, at its core, a network and its value grows as connections between government, civil society, business, communities and practitioners become stronger and more purposeful. When these actors are connected and coordinated, the ecosystem becomes more responsive, more efficient and capable of reaching every child, across all geographies and social contexts. That kind of collective impact, greater than the sum of its parts, is how change happens at scale.
The women at the centre of this sector aren’t waiting for permission, they’re already building businesses, creating employment and shaping the earliest experiences of the next generation.
South Africa has spoken, ECD is an economic imperative. The test now is whether the funding, the policies and the promises move beyond the podium and into the communities where these women are already doing the work.
