BELA by province
Home education registration in Gauteng
Applications for home education in this province go to the Head of Department of the Gauteng Department of Education, whose head office is in Johannesburg.
- Department Gauteng Department of Education
- Seat Johannesburg
- Deemed approval 60 days
- Rule set bela v1
Where to apply
Gauteng is the smallest province by area and the most populous, and many home-educating families live here. Expect the department to be busy at the start of the school year; applying a term ahead leaves room for the 60 days to run.
Before you apply, read the department's own requirements on its website or ask its office, and ask whether it wants the application at the head office or at your district office.
The steps
- Read what the Gauteng Department of Education asks for, on its website or by asking its office.
- Complete the Education Plan for this phase and download it.
- Gather the documents in the list below.
- Fill in and sign the Gauteng Department of Education's application form for home education.
- Submit the application to the Gauteng Department of Education and keep proof of the date it was received.
- Record the date you applied in Selemo, so Selemo can count the days with you.
- If you have heard nothing after a month, write to the Gauteng Department of Education to ask about progress and keep a copy.
The documents
A copy of the child's birth certificate, a copy of each parent's or guardian's identity document, proof of address, the Education Plan for this phase, a weekly timetable and the child's most recent school report, if they were at school.
The 60-day clock
If the Gauteng Department of Education has not answered a complete application within 60 days, Selemo's reading of the rules is that it may be treated as approved, so keep proof of the date you applied. For example, an application received on Monday 12 October 2026 reaches its 60th day on Friday 11 December 2026.
Planning the school day in Gauteng
Gauteng lies on the Highveld between about 1,300 and 1,800 metres, with afternoon thunderstorms from October to March and dry, cold winters.
Pretoria, lower and warmer than Johannesburg, usually sees its jacarandas and its first storms a little earlier in spring.
Gauteng's nature reserves and botanical gardens lie inside its cities, so a weekly nature walk on the same route through the year rarely needs a long drive.
Around Johannesburg, Selemo's season engine finds grassland with summer rainfall. On the shortest day the sun rises at 06:54 and sets at 17:24; on the longest it rises at 05:12 and sets at 18:59.
That is 10 hours 30 minutes of daylight in June against 13 hours 47 minutes in December, and at the spring equinox the sun rises at 05:56 and sets at 18:04: a main lesson that starts an hour or two after sunrise works in every season, and the Education Plan's section on the week and the day records when it begins.
Home Language and First Additional Language
The languages most spoken at home in Gauteng include isiZulu, English, Sesotho, Afrikaans and Sepedi. The Education Plan names your child's Home Language and First Additional Language, and the CAPS comparison follows that choice.
Assessment at the end of the phase
A competent assessor looks at your child's progress at the end of each phase: the Foundation Phase towards the end of Grade 3 and the Intermediate Phase towards the end of Grade 6. Arrange the assessor early in the final year, and share the assessor pack before the meeting.
- Contents
- The learner
- Outcome coverage
- Comparison with CAPS
- Selected main lesson book pages
- Termly reports
- Milestone checklists
- Evidence chain verification
Seasons near you
Savanna
The year in Pretoria
Pretoria sits in a warm valley between quartzite ridges, a little lower and warmer than Johannesburg, where the Highveld grassland gives way to bushveld.
Nearly all the rain falls between October and March, much of it in late-afternoon thunderstorms. Winter days are dry, clear and mild, with cold mornings and the odd frost in low-lying gardens.
Places to walk near Pretoria: Pretoria National Botanical Garden, Groenkloof Nature Reserve and Rietvlei Nature Reserve.
Grassland
The year in Johannesburg
Johannesburg stands high on the Witwatersrand, among the highest large cities in Africa, on open Highveld grassland that has been planted with millions of trees.
Summer brings almost all of the year's rain, often as violent afternoon storms with hail. The altitude makes winter nights cold, with frost on lawns most clear winter mornings, while the days are bright and dry.
Places to walk near Johannesburg: Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden, Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve and Delta Park.
Sources and status
- The department, steps, documents, deemed-approval period and assessment points come from Selemo's compliance rule set bela v1, in effect from 1 January 2026 and awaiting legal review; the BELA Act and the South African Schools Act govern home education, and the Gauteng Department of Education's own requirements come first.
- The home languages are the most widely spoken in Gauteng in Statistics South Africa's census, and sunrise and sunset are computed by Selemo's season engine for Johannesburg, rounded to about 5 km, for the solstices of 2027.
Registering in Gauteng, without the worry
Selemo builds the Education Plan from your record, counts the days after you apply and gathers the assessor pack when Grade 3 ends.
No card needed for the trial. Seedling Free stays free.