What is required, if the unqualified and immediately realisable right to basic education is to be safeguarded, is not simply better ad hoc responses to extreme weather events but a shift towards a basic education system that is intentionally designed to withstand them.
As extreme weather events intensify it has become clear that climate change is already disrupting schooling in South Africa and will continue to do so. The question is whether our basic education system is prepared to protect the right to basic education when it does. Recent extreme rainfall across parts of the country, particularly in the Eastern and Western Cape, once again exposed the vulnerability of the system to climate-related disruptions.
On 3 May 2026, the South African Weather Service (SAWS) warned of an intense cut-off low-pressure system expected to bring flood-inducing extreme rainfall, strong winds, damaging coastal waves and snowfall. In response to the projections and warnings from the SAWS, both the Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDoE) and the Western Cape Department of Education (WCDoE) issued directives to schools.
The ECDoE circulated the weather warnings to district directors and schools, informing them of the areas set to be affected and the anticipated impacts. Schools were advised to inform their communities of the weather warning and to advise pupils to be cautious and stay indoors. The WCDoE issued more communication, instructing 125 schools in high-risk areas to close for two days (6 and 7 May 2026),...
