The National Adult Literacy for Empowerment Campaign 2026-2030 was launched by Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, on 12 May 2026 in King Williams Town. Dr Gondwe urged out-of-school youth and adults, especially those in rural and marginalised communities, to enrol at their local Community Education and Training (CET) colleges to improve their literacy and numeracy skills.
The event marked the start of a nationwide drive to address adult illiteracy in South Africa.
The campaign, themed “Empowering Communities through Literacy for Inclusive Development”, is led by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) in partnership with the Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA), W&R SETA, Services SETA, Old Mutual, the National House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders, and other stakeholders.
It aims to tackle the challenge of about 3.8 million functionally illiterate adults in South Africa by empowering one million adult learners by 2030. Priority focus will be placed on rural, mining, and marginalised communities in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, and North-West provinces.
The initiative will roll out a comprehensive literacy programme that goes beyond basic reading and writing. It will cover basic literacy and numeracy in local languages, digital literacy supported by NEMISA, financial literacy in partnership with Old Mutual, civic education and life skills supported by Higher Health, entrepreneurship literacy supported by Allan and Gill Gray Philanthropy SA, and workplace literacy supported by MQA and other SETAs.
Speaking at the launch, Dr Gondwe stressed the key role of CET colleges in the fight against illiteracy.
“CET colleges have long been overlooked, despite their potential as centres for lifelong learning and skills development. Many face challenges and continue to operate under difficult conditions. I believe a whole-of-society approach is needed to support these important community learning institutions,” she said.
The campaign aims to reach nearly 8,000 learners across the four priority provinces during the 2026 pilot phase.
