PRETORIA, Friday 4 September 2026 — Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube has kept South Africa’s new Foundation Phase National Catalogue for Grades 1 to 3 suspended for the 2027 school year after an investigation identified material non-compliance, governance weaknesses and potential procurement and financial-management risks.
The decision means provinces and schools will use the existing catalogue of previously approved Foundation Phase learning materials while the Department of Basic Education completes legal verification and corrective work on the new catalogue.
The catalogue had been suspended while an independent investigation and oversight processes examined concerns about how learning materials were developed, evaluated and approved.
Gwarube said the investigation examined the broader systems used in the catalogue process rather than only allegations concerning individual publishers.
According to the department’s account of the findings, investigators identified material problems that required further action before the new catalogue could safely be implemented.
The minister has asked the State Attorney to obtain Senior Counsel advice on the legal implications of the findings and the remedies available to the department.
The department will meanwhile continue legal verification and rectification of the new catalogue rather than implementing it for the 2027 school year.
The decision follows months of scrutiny of the Foundation Phase catalogue after questions were raised about the inclusion of Lighthouse Publishers, a relatively new company that secured a substantial share of approved titles.
Earlier reports said Lighthouse could potentially receive orders worth more than R285 million from an overall catalogue process associated with an estimated R1.6 billion in learning-material expenditure.
Those figures represented potential procurement arising from the catalogue and should not be interpreted as confirmation that Lighthouse had already received a R285 million contract.
The independent investigation did not substantiate allegations of fraud, favouritism or manipulation specifically concerning Lighthouse’s inclusion in the catalogue, according to reporting on the investigation.
However, broader weaknesses were identified in the governance and administration of the catalogue process, including concerns about formal policy, declarations of interest and procurement controls.
That distinction is important because the continued suspension is a response to problems with the broader process and does not amount to a finding that Lighthouse or any other publisher committed fraud.
Gwarube had announced an independent external investigation into the catalogue during the Basic Education budget process earlier this year, saying procurement integrity was necessary to protect foundational learning.
The Department of Basic Education subsequently placed procurement from the new catalogue on hold while the investigation proceeded.
Gwarube said the latest decision was intended to prevent uncertainty over procurement from affecting preparations for the next academic year.
The existing catalogue will therefore remain available to provincial education departments and schools with procurement authority for the purchase of Grades 1 to 3 textbooks and other learning materials.
Western Cape Education MEC Jaco Londt confirmed on Wednesday that the province had been informed that the existing catalogue would remain available for 2027 and said teaching and learning would not be disrupted by the national suspension.
The national decision potentially affects Foundation Phase procurement across all nine provinces and comes as government places increased emphasis on literacy and numeracy in the early grades.
Gwarube has made foundational learning one of her central policy priorities since entering the national executive.
The issue also carries political significance within the Government of National Unity.
Gwarube is a DA Cabinet minister responsible for one of government’s largest service-delivery portfolios, while questions surrounding the catalogue have previously drawn scrutiny in Parliament from opposition parties.
The DA welcomed the continued suspension, with its Basic Education spokesperson Eleanore Bouw-Spies saying concerns over public resources needed to be properly addressed.
That response represents the party’s position and is separate from the findings of the independent investigation.
The catalogue process itself is not necessarily permanently abandoned.
The Department of Basic Education says legal verification and remedial work will continue while advice is obtained on how the problems identified by the investigation should be addressed.
The next material development will be the outcome of that legal assessment and whether the department can correct the catalogue process for a later implementation date.
Any disciplinary action against officials, adverse findings against publishers or decision to restart the catalogue process would require separate evidence and should not be inferred from the suspension
