In a statement issued on Thursday evening, the office of Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube categorically rejected what it described as baseless, unfounded, and deliberately misleading allegations. Contrary to claims by March-to March organisers and other vigilantism organisations, these learners are not unlawfully occupying school spaces nor displacing South African children. Education officials warned that this reckless misidentification of undocumented South African children as “foreigners” amounts to a dangerous witch-hunt. Andile Gogoda praised Addington Primary School for complying with the law by enrolling 17 undocumented learners, the majority of whom are South African. “Jacinta is deliberately inflating numbers by counting South African children without birth certificates as foreigners,” Gogoda said.