ECD forms and contacts for Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga has no ECD section, no ECD menu item and no working site search on either of its two live education websites (mpeducation.mpg.gov.za, the department's own legacy site, and www.mpg.gov.za/Departments/DOE, the provincial portal) — but the actual paperwork IS on the server, just orphaned from every navigation menu and only reachable by direct URL. The single most valuable find is the current 2026/27 ECD subsidy pack (Form 1 Parts A-F plus Form 2 List of Children) sitting at /PF/ECD/, and an unlinked-but-live forms index at /documents_publications/forms/forms.htm that still serves the province's own pre-primary registration forms MDE/ECD/001 and MDE/RPS/1 as Word documents. Every equivalent link published on the old www.mpumalanga.gov.za domain (which is still online and still lists these forms by name) is now a 404, so anyone following the province's own published index will hit dead links — the working copies are on mpeducation.mpg.gov.za only.
Every link on this page was opened and checked on 2026-08-31.
Government sites move things without notice, so if one has broken since, tell us on WhatsApp and we will fix it the same day. Always confirm the current version with your district office before you submit.
Forms you can download for Mpumalanga
These are published by Mpumalanga Department of Education or by a national government source that applies here.
| Form | What it is for |
|---|---|
| ECD SUBSIDY APPLICATION FORMS — Form 1: Application for ECD subsidy; Form 2: List of children eligible for the ECD subsidy (2026/27)
Form 1 and Form 2 |
THE current Mpumalanga ECD subsidy application pack. 20-page fillable PDF, text confirmed by extraction. Form 1 has Parts A-F: A contact details plus EMIS number, Partial Care Facility registration number and ECD Programme registration number; B child numbers and age bands (1-18 / 18-36 / 37-59 / 60+ months) and places applied for; C means-test detail (Child Support Grant, Foster Care Grant, affidavit or proof of income) required only if the programme is NOT in a ward designated for universal targeting; D fees charged plus a full annual income and expenditure budget (salaries, UIF, food, food preparation, educational materials, rates, water, electricity, rent, maintenance, transport, bookkeeper) and a deviation request signed off by the CFO and HOD; E bookkeeper/auditor details and bank account details requiring a bank stamp, with the account in the ECD programme's own name and no third-party payment; F declaration signed by applicant plus two witnesses. States the subsidy spend ratio: 40% nutrition, 40% salaries, 20% learning materials and operating costs. Form 2 (pages 14-20) is the 100-row learner list capturing last name, first name, ID number or date of birth, and a means-test cross per child. Page 13 says to contact the district or provincial department of education with questions. |
| Call for proposals from Non-Profit Organisations to deliver Early Childhood Development services in Mpumalanga Province from 2024 and thereafter — with Form 1 and Form 2
Form 1 and Form 2 |
16-page PDF: the department's advertised call for NPOs to apply for ECD funding, bundled with the same Form 1 (application for subsidy) and Form 2 (list of children) structure as the 2026/27 pack. States that applicants must be registered and compliant under the Non-Profit Organisations Act and relevant tax legislation, that programmes must be registered as ECD programmes to be eligible, and that two copies of the completed application and supporting documents go to the nearest Department of Education DISTRICT office. CAUTION: the cycle named on this document is 2025/26 with a submission deadline of 15 October 2024, so the deadline has passed — treat it as evidence of the process and the district-office submission route, and use the 2026/27 pack for the current forms. The PDF's embedded fonts are broken so the text renders as mojibake in some readers; it opens fine visually. |
| Application for Registration of an Independent School (Form 23/2013)
Form 23/2013 (INDSCH) |
34-page Mpumalanga independent-school registration form on the provincial portal. Relevant to a creche only if it is registering as an independent SCHOOL (i.e. offering Grade R and up) rather than as a pre-primary under MDE/ECD/001. Must be submitted to the relevant Circuit Manager on or before 30 April preceding the following academic year, as a Portfolio of Evidence, with an acknowledgement of receipt obtained from the circuit office. |
| Application for Subsidy for an Independent School (Form 27/2013)
Form 27/2013 (INDSCH) |
20-page annual subsidy application for a registered independent school. Section A demands the EMIS number with a certified copy of the EMIS certificate or departmental confirmation letter, date of registration, circuit and region, and states in bold that there is no consideration for subsidy without proof of registration. Again the independent-school stream, not the ECD subsidy stream. |
| Application for Registration as an Independent or Public Pre-Primary School (MDE/ECD/001)
MDE/ECD/001 |
The province's own 12-page Word registration form for a pre-primary school / creche. Content confirmed by extraction. Header instruction: complete in triplicate and submit to the circuit office that serves your area. Captures proposed school names in order of preference, physical and postal address (with directions if in an informal settlement), Site/Erf number, township or farm, magisterial district, local and district municipal area, applicant full name and ID, occupation status of premises (state-erected, part of a public primary school, SGB-built on state property with or without permission, applicant-owned with deed of sale, leased with a minimum three-year lease, community building, converted house or garage, other), attached municipal health certificate with its expiry date and the number of learners the centre can accommodate, and an attached constitution including an admissions policy in line with SASA and governing-body election policy. |
| Application for Registration as an Independent or Public Pre-Primary School (MDE/RPS/1)
MDE/RPS/1 |
The 10-page variant of the same pre-primary registration form, also in triplicate to the circuit office. Content confirmed by extraction. Same fields as MDE/ECD/001 but shorter, and it additionally asks whether the facility will function as a creche cum pre-primary school. The department publishes both MDE/ECD/001 and MDE/RPS/1 side by side with no note on which supersedes the other, so phone the circuit office and ask which one they want before completing anything in triplicate. |
| Grade R Early Childhood Development Policy — Mpumalanga Department of Education | 23-page scanned PDF of the province's own Grade R / ECD policy, reached from the department's Legislation and Policies page. Sets out the ECD Regulatory Framework: procedures for registering and funding ECD centres, issuance of subsidies, practitioner-learner ratios, minimum practitioner qualifications, curriculum visits and LTSM provision to ECD centres. Ratified by the Provincial Executive Council in 2008; the PDF file was created in 2011. It is scanned images, so it is not text-searchable, and it predates the 2022 shift of the ECD function from Social Development to Basic Education — read it for the provincial funding and ratio rules, not for the current registration route. |
| Procedure Manual on the Registration of Independent Schools, Expansion and Reduction of Grades and Curriculum, and Application for Subsidy | 26-page Mpumalanga procedure manual explaining the Form 21 to Form 27 sequence end to end — expression of intent, application, site visit checklist, expansion, reduction, subsidy. The plain-English companion to Forms 23 and 27. Useful to a creche owner who is going the independent-school route. |
| Application for a State Subsidy — Independent Institutions (per-term claim form) | Term-by-term state subsidy claim form for registered independent institutions, on Department of Education letterhead. Content confirmed by extraction. Instruction on the form: complete a separate form for each term, and it must reach Head Office on the third Friday of each term to be considered. Captures region, circuit, school name, date registered, EMIS number, principal, term number, and learner counts including a Grade R line taken on the 10th school day of term 1 and on the re-opening day for the other three terms. Reverse side is completed by the Circuit Manager during a physical visit and asks about SACE-registered educators, learner attendance register, audited financial records and inspection visits. Note this is the independent-school subsidy stream, which is separate from the ECD subsidy claimed on Form 1 and Form 2 above. |
| Application for a State Subsidy — Independent Institutions (earlier version) | Earlier or alternate version of the same per-term independent-institution subsidy claim form; opening text and the third-Friday-of-term deadline are identical, confirmed by extraction. Listed on the department's forms index as 'Claim Form State Subsidy'. Use claimformstatesubsidy2.doc unless the circuit office says otherwise. |
The national route, which works in every province
Registration now runs through the DBE's Bana Pele drive and the eCares system, whichever province you are in. Registration is free — nobody should be charging you for it.
- eCares registration portal (DBE) — create an account and lodge the application
- Bana Pele registration drive (DBE) — the process, the documents needed, and the current provincial rollout
- eCares resource hub — guides for applying, fixing a rejected application, and linking an already-registered centre
- Call centre 0800 202 933 · banapele@dbe.gov.za
Other Mpumalanga pages worth having open
- eCares ECD programme registration portal (application entry point) — The live DBE eCares online registration form, titled 'eCares | DBE'. This is the URL the national Bana Pele page sends applicants to. It is a JavaScript application, so it must be opened in a browser — there is nothing to download. Reached either directly or via https://dbecares.dbe.gov.za/user-registration/ which redirects here.
- eCares ECD system (main portal) — The main eCares application, live and serving. https://dbecares.dbe.gov.za/ redirects to this address. JavaScript application, browser only.
- Documents and Publications — Forms (departmental forms index) — The department's own forms index page, live but orphaned — it is not linked from any menu on the current mpeducation.mpg.gov.za site. This is the page that lists and correctly links the two pre-primary registration forms, both state-subsidy claim forms, and the school registration, ABET, name-change, closure, additional-grades, reclassification and exam-centre forms. Its relative links resolve, unlike the identical index published on the old mpumalanga.gov.za domain. Bookmark this rather than hunting the menus.
- Mpumalanga Department of Education — Resource centre (all departmental publications) — The provincial portal's document library for the education department, 10 paginated pages. I read all 10 pages: it carries the independent-school Forms 21 to 27, the procedure manual, annual reports, APPs and circulars — and NOTHING on ECD. Listed here so nobody wastes time paging through it looking for ECD forms.
- Bana Pele ECD Registration Drive (national DBE) — National Department of Basic Education page for the Bana Pele mass registration drive, which runs alongside the provincial paperwork. Explains the three stages — APPLY (online form or WhatsApp bot, gets a Bronze certificate), COMPLY (remaining documents plus site visits against the norms and standards), COMPLETE (Silver or Gold certificate). Carries the warning that ECD registration is FREE and that anyone charging for registration support should be reported to banapele@dbe.gov.za. Links out to downloadable resources including 7 Simple Application Steps, Required Registration Documents (a JPEG infographic, HTTP 200), ECD Norms and Standards and an FAQ. Note the page describes the rollout as phased from Gauteng pilot sites, and its 'Registration drive is LIVE in these provinces' download returned HTTP 403 to me, so I could NOT confirm whether Mpumalanga is live on eCares yet — ask the district office.
- Mpumalanga Department of Social Development — Services (Early Childhood Development section) — LIVE BUT OUT OF DATE — flagged so nobody acts on it. This provincial page still states that all ECD centres for children 0-4 MUST register with the Department of Social Development and that applications are lodged with the local Social Development office. That has not been correct since the ECD function moved to Basic Education on 1 April 2022. It does still usefully quote the Children's Act definition of an ECD centre (more than six children cared for away from their parents) and the practitioner requirement of an appropriate ECD qualification plus three years in the field. Do not submit a registration application to DSD on the strength of this page.
Who to phone in Mpumalanga
For most owners this section is worth more than any PDF. These are published by the department itself.
| Who | Details |
|---|---|
| Mpumalanga Department of Education — Head Office (physical and postal) | Building 5, Government Boulevard, Riverside Park, Nelspruit 1200 / Private Bag X11341, Nelspruit 1200. Tel: (013) 766 5552 / 5349 / 5115. Toll-free: 0800 203 116. Fax: (013) 766 5577 |
| Head Office — Independent Subsidies desk (enquiries: WA Barnard), printed on the state subsidy claim form itself | Tel: (013) 766 5492, Int +27 13 766 5492. Fax: (013) 766 5592, Int +27 13 766 5592. Government Boulevard, Building 5, Riverside Park, Nelspruit 1200 / Private Bag X11341 |
| Ehlanzeni District Office (the district covering Hazyview / Mbombela — subsidy applications go to the nearest district office) | Former Mgwenya College of Education, Kanyamazane. Private Bag X1014, Kanyamazane 1214. Tel: (013) 766 0300. Fax: (013) 794 3234 |
| Bohlabela District Office | Former Mapulaneng College of Education, R533 Graskop Road, Bushbuckridge. Private Bag X9399, Bushbuckridge 1280. Tel: (013) 766 7418. Fax: (013) 708 5158 |
| Gert Sibande District Office | 2 De Jager Street, Ermelo 2551. Private Bag X9029, Ermelo 2350. Tel: (017) 809 5000. Fax: (017) 811 5808 |
| Nkangala District Office | Building 5, Government Complex, KwaMhlanga. Private Bag X4021, KwaMhlanga 1022. Tel: (013) 947 1500. Fax: (013) 947 2096 |
| Mpumalanga Department of Education — MEC's office and senior officials (named contacts with direct lines and email) | MEC Ms Lindi Masina 013 766 5482/5555, nommahlangu@mpuedu.gov.za; Office Manager Ms Pinky Moosa 013 766 5520, p.moosa@mpuedu.gov.za; Acting HOD Ms Gugu Mashiteng 013 766 5520; Media Liaison Mr Gerald S. Sambo 013 766 5005, g.sambo@mpuedu.gov.za |
| Mpumalanga Department of Education — help lines published on the department's own contact page | Toll-free line: 0800 203 116. Exam Help Desk: (013) 766 0033. Dial-a-Tutor: 087 805 1350 |
| Bana Pele / eCares registration drive — national DBE enquiries and fraud reporting | banapele@dbe.gov.za (registration is free; report anyone charging for registration support to this address) |
| National Department of Basic Education head office | 222 Struben Street, Pretoria. Call Centre: 0800 202 933, callcentre@dbe.gov.za. Switchboard: 012 357 3000 |
| Mpumalanga provincial education department as listed by the DBE-linked ECD Info Hub (alternative switchboard number) | Building No. 5, Government Boulevard, Riverside Park, Nelspruit. Tel: 013 766 5000 |
Registration is free. If somebody offers to register your centre for a fee, they are selling you something the state gives away. Use the call centre number above instead.
Once you are registered, the paperwork does not stop.
The subsidy is kept by the quarterly returns, not the registration certificate. Zande builds them from the attendance you already mark and the costs you already record.
Get started free →