The provincial departments of education and home affairs (DHA) said local schools cannot enrol pupils without proper documentation.

Provincial spokesman for home affairs, Dorris Chiloane, said the documents are passports, study visas and valid birth certificates from their country of origin.

Schools and principals must ensure that should the parents or learners produce passports or study permits, they first verify the authenticity of such documents with the DHA before admitting the learner.

“Applications for study permits are done outside South Africa, but they can be renewed inside the country at visa facilitation centres 60 days before the expiry date. In Mpumalanga these offices are located at Kamkholo Building, fifth floor in Mbombela,” she said.

Immigrants who want to study in the country must apply for a South African student visa (formerly called a South African study permit) before arriving in the country. If they are not immigrants, they do not need a study visa although they need to submit the other other documents.

Spokesman for education, Jasper Zwane said the law in South Africa says if a pupil still has not submitted all their documents in three months their application must be cancelled.

“It is the parents’ responsibility to make sure that their child has all the correct documentation and the school’s responsibility is to educate the learners,” he said. A local principal said even if they inform the parents about the law it is still not easy for them to understand when they cannot accept their child in their school.

“We have many parents who come to our school and when we explain the law, they think it is the school rules and not the Department of Education or the law.

“When the pupil had to stop attending school the matter did not sit well with the parents because they assumed that the school was being xenophobic and it was not the case.

“As a school we have laws that we have to abide by and there is nothing we can do. We do not want any parents to feel that we are discriminating against any learner. It is simply because they are not originally from South Africa. It is the law of the country and the education department,” he said.

“When the officers arrive for inspection we simply submit the information that we have and they then inform us of the steps that need to be taken. It is not easy for us, yet I fear that I could also be removed from my duties if I am not abiding by the laws of the country,” he explained.

“The schools should take documents submitted by the learners to the nearest home affairs office for verification,” Chiloane said.

“Should they be found to be fraudulent, the DHA will implement its laws. Schools are not in a position to differentiate between valid and fraudulent documents, passports and permits, hence the need to verify with the DHA,” she concluded.