South Africa’s Bana Pele ECD Mass Registration Drive has been one of the most energising developments in the sector in years. Registering more than 13,300 ECD centres and exceeding its original target by 33%, the DBE’s drive has demonstrated what is possible when government, civil society and communities move together with shared purpose. The Silver phase is now underway. The momentum is real, and it is welcome.
For ECD centres, registration is not simply an administrative milestone. It is the gateway to formal recognition within the national ECD system and, critically, to the government’s R24 daily subsidy per child. This is the funding that many centres depend on to remain operational and to sustain the practitioners who serve South Africa’s youngest learners.
But from the ground, a quieter question is gaining urgency: what happens to the centres that want to comply, yet cannot afford to?
At Breadline Africa, we have been supporting ECD infrastructure across South Africa’s nine provinces since 1993. In 2025, we provided or upgraded facilities at 22 ECD centres. When we assessed 17 of those centres in early 2026, the findings were encouraging, but they also revealed important barriers. All 17 sites had infrastructure in active use. Enrolment rates grew significantly at centres where we provided infrastructure, particularly classrooms, with the strongest growth recorded at centres that received new classrooms. Waiting lists of 98 children across seven centres point to a simple reality: when the quality of the learning environment improves, demand increases.
Yet 88% (15 of 17) of our assessed centres were DBE registered, while only 53% (9 of 17) accessed the R24 daily subsidy. The figures suggest that registration is only one part of the challenge. For many centres, infrastructure requirements and implementation realities continue to stand in the way of subsidy access. Several centres had not yet met classroom size requirements or educator ratios. Others were affected by municipal bylaws that limited their access to subsidies. The 2024 Thrive by Five Survey found that only 39% of ECD programmes receiving the subsidy get it on time and at the right value, a challenge felt most acutely at community level.
This is where infrastructure matters most. Of all the requirements for Bana Pele registration compliance, a safe classroom that meets minimum size requirements is the most expensive single item, with costs running into six figures. For an ECD practitioner earning an irregular stipend, in a context where the majority of the centres we assessed were under financial pressure or in crisis, this is not a gap they can close alone. The R24 subsidy, designed to sustain centres, remains out of reach for those who need it most until the infrastructure that unlocks it is in place. Without investment in infrastructure, many centres will remain locked out of the subsidy system.
Minister Siviwe Gwarube captured the challenge directly at the City of Cape Town ECD Indaba in August 2025: “We must register ECD centres, standardise quality, expand infrastructure and place the child at the centre of every decision. That is how we build a nation from the ground up.” Breadline Africa’s ground-level data adds texture to that call. The infrastructure provides practitioners with suitable teaching spaces, and centres are better positioned to attract support. Across the 17 centres we assessed, 13 had at least one active partner providing nutrition, health services, practitioner training or parental support.
Local bylaws govern land use, building approvals and partial care registration in ways that national policy does not always reach. Where municipalities work closely with ECD centres, aligning their spatial planning with ECD access needs, and streamlining compliance pathways, registration becomes easier to achieve. Where those relationships do not exist, or where approval processes become difficult, even well-resourced and well-intentioned centres stall. This is not a criticism of municipalities. It is a recognition that their inclusion as partners in the ECD access conversation is not optional. It is structural.
South Africa’s youngest children need a system that works in practice, especially for centres serving low-income communities. The registration drive has shown what can be achieved when government and civil society work together. What we need now is for municipalities, funders and implementation partners to align around the infrastructure investment needed for registration, and the subsidy support needed to sustain centres once they are registered.
