ECD sector in crisis as South Africa floods illegal centers

South Africa's early childhood development (ECD) sector stands at a critical crossroads.

The rapid uncontrolled expansion of ECD centers in municipalities is raising concerns about regulation, fairness and sustainability.

Thousands of centers operate outside the law; Enforcement is largely absent and compliant center owners are being penalized financially for doing things correctly.

In municipalities across the country, ECD centers are increasingly 'mushrooming', operating out of residential homes, informal structures, converted garages and unregulated facilities. While the growing demand for child care and early education is understandable, the pace of expansion has far outstripped the ability of regulatory authorities to enforce compliance consistently and meaningfully.

The result is a deeply fragmented industry in which compliant centers bear the burden of costly regulation while thousands of non-compliant centers continue to operate unregulated.

A regulatory framework exists, but it is not enforced.

Lisa Januario, head of ECD Upliftment Projects and Consulting in Walkerville, said that, under South African law, ECD centers must comply with Children's Act 38 of 2005, municipal zoning and land-use plans, health and safety bylaws, fire regulations, building compliance and program registration.

Following the 2022 migration from the Department of Social Development, oversight falls under the Department of Municipalities and Basic Education. Yet despite the widespread government's own registration campaign, Bana Pele, enforcement is inconsistent and at worst absent.

“Municipalities lack the capacity to efficiently process applications or conduct routine inspections. As a result, at least half of the ECD sector continues to operate outside formal compliance, often without consequences.

“The figures tell a story. The scale of the sector and the problem is staggering. The national 2021 ECD Census identified approximately 42,000 ECD programs across South Africa, including both registered and unregistered facilities. Yet government registration efforts remain incomplete, with only thousands of centers formalized through the recent Bana Pele drive, with just over 1,600 new registrations in the initial rollout stages Are.

“By 2025, only 12,000 ‘Bronze Certificates’ of registration had been issued, which is a fraction of the total sector. This leaves a large portion of the sector either unregistered, partially compliant or operating outside regulatory oversight,” Janurio said.

Cost of running an ECD center

The disproportionate cost of compliance is appalling. For compliant private ECD owners, the compliance cost is neither simple nor affordable, with expenses amounting to thousands of rands.

Opening a fully compliant center requires zoning approval, building plan approval, fire compliance, health and safety certifications, business certifications, program registration and legal documentation. These requirements can cost tens or hundreds of thousands of rands before a child can enroll.

The biggest frustration in the sector is the growing discrepancy between private ECD centers and non-profit/NPO-based facilities.

Private ECD owners are often expected to meet full compliance standards at high cost, while some NPOs or subsidized facilities appear to receive leniency, phased compliance allowances or government support. Although this is necessary to ensure access to vulnerable communities, uneven application of standards has created the perception of a two-tier regulatory system, with one set of rules for the private sector and another for everyone else.

“This inequality distorts competition, discourages investment, and penalizes those attempting to operate legally and professionally. Meanwhile, non-compliant centers often ignore these requirements altogether, continuing to do business without consequences.

“The intention behind regulation is clear: to protect children and ensure a quality early learning environment. However, when compliance becomes overly complex or financially prohibitive, it has unintended consequences. ECD owners may delay or avoid registration altogether, passing the cost on to parents, making ECDs less affordable or abandoning expansion plans due to regulatory barriers,” she said.

A major concern raised by ECD sector stakeholders is the lack of visible enforcement against non-compliant centres. This raises an important question: If the government is aware of widespread noncompliance, why is enforcement so limited?

MEC of Education, Lebogang Mel on ECD

During a recent media briefing by the MEC for Education, Lebogang Mel said the ECD sector in Gauteng is privately run, with no public sites. Access to ECD remains unequal, especially for children from low-income families.

“The major challenges with ECD centers in Gauteng are that a large number of people remain unregistered, often operating from informal structures that do not meet municipal health and safety requirements.

“These unregistered sites cannot access subsidies, but many cannot upgrade. While the provincial government has launched a large-scale registration drive for ECD centres, the process is slow and paperwork-heavy. Additionally, zoning and approval can take years and require coordination across multiple departments.

“In addition, subsidy funding is insufficient to expand coverage into poor communities in line with demand. Practitioner supply is also constrained and many ECD practitioners are not formally trained and are paid below the minimum wage,” explained Mel.