The data from research centre Intelpoint suggests the majority of the population aged 15 years and older possesses basic reading and writing skills.
South Africa’s adult literacy rate has reached 95%, ranking it as the second most literate country on the African continent.
The data from research centre Intelpoint suggests the majority of the population aged 15 years and older possesses basic reading and writing skills. The findings from studies on adult literacy from 2018 to 2021 showed that Seychelles had the highest literacy rate in Africa at 95.9%, while Chad had the lowest at 26.8%.
“These statistics underscore the uneven progress in educational attainment across Africa, highlighting the need for targeted interventions to improve literacy in lower-performing nations,” the report said.
But a study in 2021 by the University of Pretoria’s Centre for Evaluation and Assessment, showed that 81% of South African grade four learners could not read for meaning, a deterioration from 78% in 2016.
“While the reported figure is statistically significant, it does not fully reflect the complex realities on the ground [as] millions of South Africans, particularly in rural areas and older demographics, remain functionally illiterate,” said Democratic Alliance (DA) education spokesperson Delmain Christians.
The former main opposition party is the second largest party in a government of national unity formed in May last year, and its official, Siviwe Gwarube, is the minister of basic education.
The recently released 2023 Trends in International Mathematics and Science study found that key initiatives the basic education department has incorporated, such as no-fee schools, scholar transport and school nutrition programmes, “have significantly contributed to enhancing accessibility”.
But the study found that using English or Afrikaans to teach maths and science in upper primary and lower secondary grades “complicates matters when the learner is not used to speaking either of those languages” and contributed to a barrier to understanding complex concepts in a second language.
It said this had historically been identified as a factor contributing to low academic performance in South Africa.
The DA said it had been looking into evidence-based solutions to help it overcome “deep-rooted literacy challenges”.
“Some curriculum reforms — including bilingual literacy efforts and the streamlining of early grade reading strategies — have helped expand access to literacy. However, implementation has been uneven across provinces,” Christians said.
While adults may have acquired basic literacy skills over time, the current education system has been grappling to equip young learners with the necessary reading comprehension abilities at the expected age.
“If the education system statistics are not showing this increase, it means adults are developing skills over time, but that should be a concern for the department of basic education that the high literacy rate comes after learners leave school,” said former Gauteng education MEC Mary Metcalfe.
Basic education department spokesperson Elijah Mahlanga said that up to 60% of teaching time had been lost in certain grades during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, and the resultant lockdowns, with up to 50% lost in 2021.
“These disruptions have had a pronounced impact on early-grade learners, who are at a critical stage in developing reading skills,” Mahlanga said.
But activist group Equal Education says the pandemic alone cannot explain the decline in reading outcomes in the country.
“The ongoing reading crisis — many South African learners’ inability to read for meaning — shows how poorly the government and education departments have recognised the multiple challenges in the sector and have failed to muster the necessary political will to address them,” said Equal Education’s Jay-Dee Cyster.
The lack of a coherent and adequately funded national reading strategy exacerbates the problem, the NGO said.
The government welcomed the findings by Intelpoint and said it would continue to “prioritise literacy development in the foundational years of education” by expanding access to quality early childhood development (ECD) centres.
Early childhood development includes activities in crèches, daycare centres or pre-schools for children from birth to about eight years of age to improve their cognitive, social, emotional and physical development.
The Zero Dropout Campaign has urged the basic education department to focus on “early warning signs”, such as improving access to ECDs, to reduce South Africa’s school dropout rate. Only 28.5% of children up to the age of four attended an ECD programme in 2021, according to Statistics South Africa.
In January, Gwarube said despite a record-high matric pass rate of 87.3% in 2024, only about 51% of the 1.2 million learners who started grade 1 in 2013 had completed high school.
“We will also prioritise the professional development of ECD practitioners and their integration into the basic education system, as well as prioritise the resourcing of ECD centres, particularly in rural and underserved communities,” Gwarube said at the time.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced an additional investment of R10 billion in early childhood development over the next three years, up from the R1.9 billion allocated for the 2024-25 financial year.