About 26% of South Africa’s 22,511 schools have libraries, according to data in the Education Facility Management System, published by the Department of Basic Education in July.
Government schools in the Eastern Cape are the worst off, with just 7% of schools having libraries. Only 9% of schools in Limpopo have libraries.
About 69% of schools in the Free State have libraries, the most in the country. Gauteng is the only other province in South Africa where more than two-thirds of the schools have libraries.
In 2013, the department of basic education committed to putting libraries in all government schools by 29 November 2023. The department missed this deadline. In 2024, almost 17,000 schools are still without these facilities.
Of the schools that do have designated library facilities, only 57% (3,312) are actually stocked with books.