Ramaphosa admits govt erred in not prioritising early childhood development

JOHANNESBURG - President Cyril Ramaphosa has admitted the African National Congress (ANC) government made a mistake for not improving access to early childhood development (ECD).

Ramaphosa was speaking at the ECD Leadership Summit in Braamfontein on Monday, focusing on establishing more ECD institutions, along with the Basic Education Minister, Siviwe Gwarube. 

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced the government had allocated R10 billion towards early childhood development during the budget speech.

Ramaphosa said intervening in a child's life at an early age has a great social impact.

“Minister, you were saying we need to agree where we have made mistakes and I’m the first in government to admit that we have made a mistake. We should have started with early childhood development 30 years ago.”

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