OP-ED | Poor infrastructure imperils KZN pupils’ right to education amid climate catastrophes

South Africa faces an urgent obligation under international law to address the impacts of climate change on the right to education.

In early 2025, from 16 to 28 February, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) experienced devastating floods, prompting the National Disaster Management Centre to declare a national state of disaster. Heavy rains, hail, and strong winds wreaked havoc across the province, particularly in the Zululand, uMzinyathi and uThukela districts. Schools were among the hardest hit, with some experiencing “flooded classrooms, roof leaks and ceiling collapses.”

Macingwane Secondary School lost three mobile classrooms, leaving hundreds of pupils without adequate learning spaces. Macingwane’s principal, Aizweyinkosi Dlamini, whose school serves more than 1,000 pupils, highlighted the existing overcrowding problem. Before the rains, he said, the school had only four brick classrooms and 18 mobile units. Three of those units were destroyed in the heavy rains. Despite this, the school continued teaching, cramming 100 pupils into a single mobile classroom while awaiting help.  

Macingwane Secondary School’s experience underscores the vulnerability of South Africa’s educational infrastructure to extreme weather events, which are becoming more frequent due to climate change, and how such fragile infrastructure can exacerbate overcrowding, disrupting pupils’ right to education.

Overcrowding in schools is common across provinces. Research conducted by Equal Education between September 2019 and June 2020 found that 100% of all the schools in Etwatwa, Gauteng, had some classes with too many pupils. The study identified a lack of infrastructure as the primary cause of children’s ability to learn being stifled by limiting individual attention and straining resources, depriving them of a supportive educational environment.

If the existing infrastructure is insufficient to cater to the current educational needs of pupils, how are South African schools to stand up to the infrastructure-damaging effects of climate change? 

In 2022, the KZN education department confirmed that 248 schools were damaged by severe floods. Three years later, mobile units that are unable to withstand flooding continue to be used at Macingwane Secondary School and in other schools, and mobile toilets are frequently used to respond to the imperative of replacing unsafe pit latrines. There has to be a change in approach.  

Each year provincial education departments are given funds under the Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG) to improve and develop education infrastructure. However, despite the glaring need to climate-proof schools like Macingwane Secondary School, these funds are often returned to Treasury unspent. It is not often that resources are readily available to address multiple socioeconomic issues at the same time, yet in these circumstances, resources under the EIG are available for this very purpose. 

The right to education

South Africa has committed, both internationally and domestically, to ensure that every child’s right to education is recognised and respected. This commitment is reflected in various international treaties such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which asserts that education is a fundamental right for all. South Africa has signed these agreements, pledging to provide education for every pupil. At the core of our constitutional framework is section 29(1)(a) of the Constitution, which guarantees everyone the right to basic education. This is a binding commitment that must be realised without delay. The Constitutional Court echoed this sentiment in the landmark case of Governing Body of Juma Musjid Primary School v Essay N.O., emphasising that the right to education is immediately realisable.

The principle of the right to education implies that every child should be able to attend school in an environment conducive to learning. However, when classrooms are overcrowded this principle becomes an abstraction rather than a living reality. Pupils at Macingwane are not only facing challenges in their educational journeys; they are also navigating a system that has failed to provide a safe and adequate learning environment. With teachers preoccupied with managing overcrowded classrooms instead of offering personalised attention, the quality of education suffers. We must recognise that the deterioration of educational infrastructure directly hinders children’s potential to learn, grow and contribute to society.

It is disheartening that a portion of the EIG grant allocated to the Departments of Education every year, specifically to improve schools’ infrastructure, often goes unspent, rather than being directed towards rebuilding and retrofitting schools to meet the challenges posed by climate change. This should not only be viewed as a financial issue but also as a moral one. Every unspent rand represents a lost opportunity for a child.

South Africa’s obligations

South Africa faces an urgent obligation under international law to address the impacts of climate change on individual rights, especially the right to education. The United Nations Convention on Climate Change, ratified by the nation in 1997, mandates that member countries take precautionary measures against climate change and accept the associated costs for adaptation, often with the help of other nations. Furthermore, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women General Recommendation No 37 emphasises the necessity of safe educational infrastructure capable of withstanding climate-induced disasters, along with proper resource allocation for protective measures.

Domestically, the Climate Change Act 22 of 2024 places a responsibility on the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to act within one year of the National Adaptation Strategy and Plan’s publication. This Act necessitates an assessment to identify and spatially map the risks and vulnerabilities faced by various areas, ecosystems and communities in light of changing climate conditions. It is essential that this assessment determines effective measures and mechanisms for managing and implementing the necessary adaptation response, in alignment with the National Adaptation Strategy and Plan. If these plans by the DBE are to be effective, then they must identify the need for fortified and resilient infrastructure in areas that are vulnerable to the devastating effects of climate change, such as KZN. 

The situation at Macingwane underscores the immediate need for the DBE to improve educational infrastructure amid these climate challenges. Relying merely on mobile classrooms is inadequate; these structures fail to withstand the floods exacerbated by climate change. The department must also enhance its commitment to combating climate change and implement the necessary measures, particularly in vulnerable regions such as KZN, as stipulated in section 22 of the Climate Change Act. 

Mudau Benni Avhatakali is a legal intern at SECTION27.