KZN Education orders Addington Primary to submit registration list

SAPS officers outside Addington Primary School in Durban.

KwaZulu-Natal Education Department says it has instructed the principal of Addington primary school to submit a detailed registration list, amid allegations of the admission of foreign children outweighing locals at the school.

Clashes erupted between foreign nationals, members of the uMkhontho weSizwe Party as well as lobby group March and March when schools re-opened on Wednesday.

Police had to step in to separate the groups.

The department’s spokesperson, Mlu Mtshali says they haven’t seen any evidence tat supports the allegation that the principal is favouring the one group of learners over the other.

“There’s been a lot of disinformation going around, especially on this matter. There’s misinformation around the numbers of learners, and we are saying that the principal will, in due course, give us those statistics and we will be able to inform the members of the public or the media in terms of how many learners have actually been registered in the demographics thereof. We haven’t seen any evidence that supports the allegation that the principal is actually favouring the one group of learners over the other.”

WATCH | KwaZulu-Natal education spokesperson Mlu Mtshali says the visuals coming out of Addington Primary are concerning, adding that the school is not the right platform to address the disputes between parents. pic.twitter.com/csHFsJJo6w

— SABC News (@SABCNews) January 16, 2026

Managing Director of Civic Root Advocacy, Siyabulela Jentile says there needs to be an urgent and transparent intervention by the education department that prioritises learners, adding he has little confidence in the department as the situation at Addington Primary should not have escalated to this level.

WATCH | Siyabulela Jentile, Managing Director of Civic Root Advocacy, says there needs to be an urgent and transparent intervention by the education department that prioritises learners, adding he has little confidence in the department as the situation at Addington Primary… pic.twitter.com/3WdmEWls0g

— SABC News (@SABCNews) January 16, 2026