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Jaco Londt has inherited an education system of stark contrasts: record matric results and the country’s highest pupil retention rate on the one hand and schools battling gangsterism, unsafe communities, unplaced pupils and vastly different academic outcomes on the other.
The newly appointed Western Cape education MEC takes the reins as the province confronts persistent questions over whether the quality of education a child receives is still too heavily determined by where that child lives and which school they attend.
A recent annual report by the Schools Evaluation Authority (SEA) found that while some Western Cape schools are thriving, others continue to perform poorly, with the achievement gap between schools serving similar communities remaining too wide.
The report found that the province had not yet reached consistently good levels of performance matching the department’s ambition of providing quality education for every child, in every classroom and every school.
Beyond the classroom, poverty and violence continue to follow pupils through the school gates.
The SEA identified factors such as going to school hungry, living and travelling to school in unsafe neighbourhoods, gangsterism and bullying as having a significant impact on children’s success at school and beyond.
It is against this backdrop that Londt, who was appointed education MEC on August 20, must chart his course.
Speaking to the Sunday Times this week, Londt conceded that it was too early to provide detailed answers on some of the challenges facing the department, saying he was still receiving briefings from officials.
But he said his leadership would be grounded in the belief that government policy had to translate into tangible improvements in people’s lives.
“As the MEC of social development, I learnt early on that the strength of the department does not lie in policies or plans, but in people. This is the same strength I am bringing to education,” Londt said.
“I want to take the same principle and see how I can best support the people in this department, from the officials in head office to the teachers in the classrooms, to ensure they are empowered.”
Londt said he looked forward to working with officials, teachers and the broader education sector to realise the department’s vision of quality education for all pupils in the province.
He takes over from David Maynier and says he intends to build on his predecessor’s work, particularly in foundational learning, improving academic outcomes, infrastructure development and partnerships.
“I have a few new ideas that I am thinking of bringing in, but these I will make known at a later stage,” Londt said.
“This department is already doing such good work, and my hope, as it was with [social development], is for it to be even better than I found it.”
Londt arrives with extensive experience in government and parliamentary oversight. From 2014 to 2024 he served in the National Council of Provinces, working across portfolios including trade and industry, economic development, small business development, tourism, employment and labour, transport, public service and administration, and public works and infrastructure.
Our priority is not only to improve pass rates but also to ensure that more learners remain in school, write the NSC exams and achieve meaningful qualifications. Viewed across these measures, the Class of 2025 delivered one of the strongest sets of results in the province’s history
— Jaco Londt, Western Cape education MEC
He was appointed Western Cape social development MEC in June 2024 before moving to the education portfolio last month.
One of the issues Londt will have to navigate is how the province measures educational success.
The Western Cape recorded its highest-ever matric pass rate of 88.2% in 2025, up from 86.6% the previous year, but slipped to fifth place nationally.
Londt cautioned against judging the provincial education system solely on its position on the national matric league table.
“When matric results are released, they must be analysed and interpreted in their proper context. While the overall pass rate remains an important indicator of success, it is not the only measure of the health of an education system.”
He said the number of pupils writing and passing the exams, bachelor’s passes, distinctions, mathematics and physical sciences results, as well as the number of pupils who remain in the system until grade 12, provided a broader picture of performance.
Londt pointed to the Western Cape’s 70% retention rate for the Class of 2025, which he said was the highest in the country and the province’s best since 2021.
“This means more learners remained in school through to grade 12 and had the opportunity to write and pass the national senior certificate [NSC] exams, opening pathways to further study, training and employment.”
The province’s bachelor pass rate increased from 47.8% to a record 49.2%, while 13,234 candidates achieved a combined 31,220 distinctions.
The Western Cape also recorded the country’s highest mathematics pass rate at 73.7% and the second-highest physical sciences pass rate at 80.6%. Pupils with special education needs achieved a 91.9% matric pass rate.
“Our priority is not only to improve pass rates but also to ensure that more learners remain in school, write the NSC exams and achieve meaningful qualifications. Viewed across these measures, the Class of 2025 delivered one of the strongest sets of results in the province’s history,” he said.
Londt’s appointment comes as the department continues programmes introduced under Maynier.
In his departure message, Maynier highlighted the department’s Back on Track learning recovery programme, investment in reading and numeracy in the foundation phase, its Rapid School Build programme, expanded support for pupils with special educational needs and the Edu Invest initiative aimed at attracting private sector investment into education.
But Londt will also inherit problems that cannot be measured through matric results alone.
The challenge will be whether the department can narrow the disparities identified by its own SEA while keeping vulnerable pupils in classrooms and ensuring teachers and pupils can learn and work safely in communities affected by poverty and gang violence.
For now, Londt is not committing himself to major policy shifts.
He said his priority during his first 100 days was to receive comprehensive briefings from the department’s management and other stakeholders in the education sector before deciding where intervention was most urgently needed.
“The most important thing for me is to receive full briefings from department management and other stakeholders in the education ecosystem to adequately understand the environment and strategise from there.”
For Londt, those first 100 days will provide the opportunity to understand the department. After that will come the harder test: what he intends to do differently.
Yoliswa Sobuwa
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