The province's weekly coronavirus update reported that 1,977 pupils in the province have contracted the virus across more than 2,000 schools.
Following an investigation, the SIU has been granted a preservation order to the value of R40.7 million by the Special Tribunal to freeze the bank accounts and assets of 14 service providers.
The first day of the 2021 academic calendar saw more than 2 million pupils return to the classroom in Gauteng.
Premier David Makhura said they noticed that COVID-19 active cases were growing exponentially in the province and had doubled during the past seven days.
Lesufi said the suspension of construction work under levels 4 and 5 of the lockdown had delayed the completion of renovations at many government schools in the province.
MEC for Education in Gauteng Panyaza Lesufi visited schools around the province to ensure that places of learning were prepared and properly equipped for the reopening of schools on 1 June 2020.
Three of the four pupils died in separate incidents on Tuesday, from causes including poisoning, while another passed away the following day.
Sadtu's Gauteng secretary Tseliso Ledimo said late registrations put teachers under pressure, as they needed to plan.
MEC Panyaza Lesufi was briefing the media after parents expressed frustration when they did not receive assistance at the department’s district officers.
The department had aimed to complete the application process by the end of last month but that did not happen.
Gauteng Community Safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane will also visit schools in Sebokeng as part of Gauteng government’s readiness programme.
The department is working to place least 30,000 pupils at schools across the province.
The Gauteng Education Department is establishing a single database of blacklisted educators to be shared between independent and public schools.
The department says around 71,000 pupils still haven’t accepted or rejected their placement offer.
The DA will visit schools in the province to assess the quality of infrastructure and nutrition programmes, among others.
On Monday, the Gauteng Education Department started the process which ends in October.
The Education MEC says he wants to tackle the increasing number of cases of misconduct involving teachers.
