Refusing Undocumented Children Access To School 'Wrong And Illegal', Says South African Lawyer
A South African human rights activist and lawyer, Jos Venter, said it is illegal to deny children of undocumented foreign nationals entry at any school in that country.
Venter said this in response to Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton McKenzie who had called for the children of foreign nationals to be refused entry to South African schools.
Venter said McKenzie’s call was unlawful because education was a basic human right. He said:
It is absolutely illegal and Gayton McKenzie is wrong in his view, wrong in the law and at a practical level, the implementation of the law is problematic.
But we have the 2019 judgment from the Eastern Cape division of the high court, where the court expressly said that, based on a lack of documents, children can’t be refused admission to public schools.
Last week, the South African pressure group Operation Dudula, said its members will camp outside schools across Gauteng Province to prevent undocumented foreign children and teachers to be part of day one of school.
