South Africans can see and feel the devastating effects of daily power cuts on their lives and livelihoods. The country’s literacy crisis, by contrast, is far less visible but its impacts are likely to be even more devastating if not addressed. The 2021 Progress in International Reading and Literacy Study shows that the percentage of Grade 4 learners, children that are either nine or ten years old, who cannot read for meaning in any language has increase to over 81%. In 2016, the figure stood at 78%.