July 8, 2026- In October 2025, SmartStart, the Department of Basic Education, Ilifa Labantwana, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, and ECDAN convened a two-day ECCE Systems Mapping Workshop in South Africa. This report examines how the country’s early childhood care and education system functions in practice, and what it will take to reach every child, especially the most excluded. It highlights stakeholder insights on forging stronger public-private partnerships, and calls for elevating the value of care work, centering families and communities in solutions, and driving the mindset shift needed to make sustainable change a reality.