The African National Congress (ANC) in the Western Cape together with their alliance partners including COSATU, SANCO and SACP and others called a joint press conference to address the issue of thousands of unplaced school children in the Western Cape.

Muhammad Khalid Sayed, the ANC's shadow MEC for Education in the Western Cape Legislature, said the mass democratic movement is disturbed by the thousands of unplaced school going children who are missing out on the first term of 2021 academic year.

Cameron Dugmore, leader of the ANC as opposition in the Western Cape Legislature, says the province faces the same crisis every year but he has the sense that never before has there been a situation where so many learners remain unplaced for so long. He said he questioned whether any of the unplaced children were black and did not get an answer from the Western Cape Education department.

Lerumo Kalako, the ANC's Western Cape Convener, when asked if the party was politically grandstanding, since they faced the same issues in provinces they control said even though they face the same issues in other provinces doesn't mean they can't confront the same issues in the Western Cape.

The Western Cape is the only one of South Africa's nine province's not controlled by the ANC. The Democratic Alliance has controlled the Western Cape since 2009.

Since the start of the 2021 school year about 6594 school going children remain unplaced by the Western Cape Education Department under MEC for Education Debbie Schaefer.