MTBPS 2026: South Africa’s Youngest Children Still Stranded Despite Fiscus Stability

October 23, 2026 The Paper Johannesburg – Real Reform for Early Childhood Development (ECD) has urged the government to transform fiscal stabilization into substantial investments for South Africa’s youngest children and their educators.

“Enhance the ECD subsidy, align the Child Support Grant with the cost of basic nutrition, and guarantee that funding for ECD meals reaches the children,” stated Real Reform for ECD.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana informed Parliament yesterday that the country’s debt has stabilized, allowing the government to safeguard frontline services and support vulnerable households.

“However, we still do not observe a Budget that prioritizes children,” remarked Real Reform for ECD.

“The 2026 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) presents commendable commitments to maternal and child nutrition and the hiring of additional social workers.

“Nonetheless, it does not propose any increase in the per-child-per-day ECD subsidy or the Child Support Grant.”

“Additionally, funding for a critical ECD nutrition program is at risk for the third consecutive year.”

Real Reform for ECD cautioned that without further investments in the 2027/28 budget, instead of building upon the promise of the 2025/26 budget, “we will be regressing.”

The underfunding of early childhood development is a choice that yields catastrophic consequences for our children, our economy, and our democracy.

“We should no longer permit such a choice,” emphasized Real Reform for ECD.

“We applaud the R1.6 billion allocation for pre-birth care and the first 1,000 days of life, as well as the government’s objective to eradicate stunting,” noted Real Reform for ECD.

“Furthermore, we appreciate the R3.8 billion dedicated to hiring over 3,500 social workers.”

Social workers are essential for child protection and family support, which encompasses the registration and aid of early learning programs, and they play a vital role in addressing and mitigating gender-based violence and violence against children.

Social workers within the ECD sector are significantly overextended, and enhanced capacity for registration and improvements would facilitate better access to the per-child-per-day subsidy.

During the recent Bana Pele leadership summit, President Cyril Ramaphosa conveyed to the sector that the value of the subsidy “will continue to rise.”

However, the subsidy was last increased on April 1, 2025.

Real Reform for ECD expressed concern that there is no indication of an increase in the value in the 2027 budget, considering the surging costs of food, energy, and operational expenses for early learning programs.

The existing rate of R24 per child per day is significantly below the R45 target set in the Department of Basic Education’s 2030 Strategy for universal access to quality ECD programs.

Families in low-income communities, where unemployment is prevalent, cannot compensate for the deficit in fees.

Consequently, children in these areas often attend under-resourced programs or none at all, while the caregivers and educators earn considerably less than the minimum wage or remain unpaid.

Approximately one million children aged three to five still do not participate in any early learning program, and over 90% of ECD practitioners earn below the minimum wage.

The Child Support Grant cannot sustain a child.

At R580 per month, the grant remains 33% beneath the food poverty line of R868.

In a nation where the Constitution prioritizes the best interests of children “above all,” this scenario reflects poorly on our values.

It is also alarming that the R1.6 billion allocation to combat stunting is drawn from savings on social grants.

The government must provide evidence to demonstrate that the declining access to the Child Support Grant is due to lower birth rates, as claimed, rather than administrative barriers and inefficiencies, such as challenges and delays in registering births and processing CSG applications.

ECD nutrition funds are still not reaching children.

R743 million has been allocated over the medium term for the DBE’s ECD nutrition pilot, which was first funded in 2024.

To date, not a single meal has been served through this initiative.

The tender to provide meals for 26,620 children at 1,035 Eastern Cape programs has faced postponement on eight occasions.

In the meantime, the DBE surrendered R743 million in unspent funds in 2025/26, nearly 40% of which originated from the pilot.

It is imperative that the allocated funds are safeguarded and that the program is implemented without delay.

In South Africa, ECD is increasingly acknowledged as an implicit constitutional right — safeguarded also by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

Allowing the support value to diminish undermines this right, especially for children from low-income households who often cannot access quality ECD programs.

Such cuts also raise serious concerns regarding the legal principle of non-retrogression, which stipulates that the government should not provide a lower level of rights protection than it has in the past.

Investing in children’s development is investing in South Africa’s future

The Minister asserted that “every rand invested must yield greater economic returns.”

Few public investments yield returns as reliably as early childhood development.

Quality early childhood programs for disadvantaged children have yielded a return of 13.7% annually over the lifetime of participants.

A World Bank review of 22 studies in low- and middle-income countries found that childcare improved mothers’ labor market outcomes in all but one case.

Investments in ECD generate significant multiplier effects; for instance, research indicates that R1 spent on ECD produces R9 in benefits on average.

The full implementation of the DBE’s 2030 ECD Strategy could facilitate the creation of 300,000 new jobs and support 70,000 enterprises in township and rural economies, alleviating childcare burdens for up to two million women.

The ECD sector currently employs nearly 200,000 people, predominantly women, with most earning below the national minimum wage.

Increasing the ECD subsidy would help acknowledge and fairly compensate their essential work while enhancing the quality of care and early learning available to children.

With economic growth anticipated at merely 1.2% this year, a budget statement centered on infrastructure must not neglect the social infrastructure that enables work.

Investing in ECD enhances children’s development, encourages women’s economic participation, and promotes employment within the communities that require it the most.

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