A VIRAL TikTok video, in which a mother, Awelani Khoaisi from Pretoria, expresses frustration about her Grade 1 son's placement at an all-Afrikaans-speaking school, has shifted from complaints to garnering widespread support across the country.
In the video, Khoaisi vents her frustrations and criticises the Gauteng Department of Education for placing her English-speaking child in an Afrikaans-speaking school.
In the footage, Khoaisi explains that her son has been enrolled in a school where all subjects are taught in Afrikaans, except for English.
“He is enrolled in an Afrikaans school — not an Afrikaans school where they teach some subjects in English, but where all subjects are taught in Afrikaans, except English itself.
“The child only speaks English, and it’s Monday, with nowhere else the department has placed us except this school. I am seated here with a problem that I don’t know how it’s going to be resolved,” she says in the video.
Watch video here: https://www.tiktok.com/@kwit_kwitani/video/7459267797311327494
Speaking to The Star, Khoaisi explained that she initially registered her child at five schools in July 2024, when online registrations opened. However, to her surprise, during the placement process, her son was rejected by all the schools she applied to — even those that were nearby.
She further explained that she attempted to register her child again when online registrations reopened in December, during which she was required to select a single school. Khoaisi also visited the GDE in Pretoria in person to explore other options, but the process remained equally challenging. Ultimately, she chose Laerskool Tuinrand.
Khoaisi said she only learned that her child had been accepted at Laerskool Hermanstad on 13 January, just two days before schools reopened.
“I went to the school on Monday, and that’s when the receptionist informed me that it was an all-Afrikaans school. I said, ‘Huh, what do you mean?’, and they explained that all subjects are taught in Afrikaans, with English offered only as a second language.”
She explained that after being handed the forms to fill out, she had to make an excuse to leave the school, as she did not understand the language. Later, she sought help from a colleague who speaks Afrikaans to assist her in completing the forms, which she then returned to the school.
Khoaisi said the GDE only intervened when she was interviewed by Phalaphala FM, but she did not like the approach as Steve Mabona, who is the spokesperson of the GDE said she intentionally enrolled her son to the current school.
“Steve Mabona said I had intentionally enrolled my son at Laerskool Hermanstad. I did not understand where he was coming from. I’m not fighting with the department, maybe it’s because I am vocal,” she said.
Mabona said the department was aware of the video in question and what led to the placement at the school in question.
“The GDE is aware of the video in question. According to the information at our disposal, we are also aware of what led to the placement at the school in question, which occurred as per our placement criteria and process emanating from the parent’s requirements that were fulfilled accordingly.”
He added that the department would engage with the parent to facilitate an alternative placement.
However, Khoaisi noted that after the encounter, the office of the MEC reached out to assist in placing her son in a different school. She politely declined the offer, having decided to embrace the challenge instead.
“I told them that I was going to embrace the challenge, as my son is a non-English speaking child, but he learned how to speak the language; he will also learn how to speak Afrikaans,” she said.
After posting the video, Khoaisi said she received overwhelming love and support from across the country, particularly from the Afrikaans-speaking community, who offered to help teach her son the language.
“We’ve received the utmost support from the country, with many people offering to tutor my son. I think I might need to open a WhatsApp group to accommodate everyone who wants to help,” she said.
With many rallying behind her, she expressed gratitude to the country and has since shared videos on her TikTok page documenting their journey of learning Afrikaans.
Watch video here: https://www.tiktok.com/@kwit_kwitani/video/7461698759383108870
The Star
masabata.mkwanazi@inl.co.za