The DA has called an urgent meeting with the president, who is set to sign the BELA Bill into law at the end of this week. Picture: Armand Hough / Independent Newspapers
Durban — The stability of the Government of National Unity (GNU) is under threat owing to disagreements over the contentious Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Bill, which is expected to be signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday – much to the dismay of political parties who have warned of legal action.
The bill makes amendments to certain sections of the South African Schools Act 1996, and the Employment of Educators Act, 1998. It comes as a result of a court judgment to respond to administrative challenges facing schools.
At least two GNU partners said they would take the president to court if he goes ahead with the signing of the Bill into law at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Friday.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said the party would “not allow the ANC to erode the powers of school governing bodies (SGBs)”.
Under the amendments, among others, the bill places the power to determine a school’s language and admission policy in the hands of the provincial departments of education.
“The DA is fighting to uphold the principles on which the GNU (Government of National Unity) was formed to guarantee quality education,” the DA said.
The party urged Ramaphosa to send the bill back to Parliament.
“The DA will not allow the ANC to further erode the powers of school governing bodies to advance the centralised control of ANC cadres,” the DA said.
Steenhuisen said that should Ramaphosa assent to the bill, he would be violating both the letter and spirit of the joint Statement of Intent that formed the basis of the GNU. He said he would be meeting with Ramaphosa ahead of the ceremony to reiterate the party’s objections as well as submit the amendments the DA had formulated.
Steenhuisen said: “During the negotiations, the DA made it clear that the Bela Bill was unacceptable to us in its current form, because it has constitutional implications for the right to mother-tongue education, among other issues. The DA urged President Ramaphosa to send the bill back to Parliament for a few simple amendments to bring it in line with the Constitution.”
In a statement, Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) chief spokesperson for basic education Wynand Boshoff said the bill was “particularly controversial” as it placed the power to determine a school’s language and admission policies in the hands of the provincial departments of education.
“The law is ill-conceived and will cause needless uncertainty and disputes about clearly established rights and responsibilities related to basic education.”
He said the FF Plus would be using its position in the GNU to apply pressure on the president to refer the bill back to Parliament for amendments and improvements.
ActionSA said it would be considering legal action should Ramaphosa go ahead and sign the bill into law.
“If, indeed, the DA was in an equal partnership in the grand coalition, this proposed signing of the Bela Bill ought to have been halted. However, President Ramaphosa seems determined to run roughshod over the minister of basic education, who is opposed to the bill.
“Just this morning, John Steenhuisen threatened to walk away from this marriage of convenience if the bill is signed.
“The time has come to put their money where their mouth is and protect the interests of millions of children and teachers. Failing to do so will indeed confirm that they are prepared to forgo safeguarding what little integrity remains in our education system in service of retaining German SUVs and ministerial perks,” said Lerato Ngobeni, ActionSA’s parliamentary caucus chief whip.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said while the president was satisfied with the work of the GNU, he remained disturbed that whenever disputes arose threats were being made to the stability of the GNU, and such threats were not only directed towards him but the stability of the country.
SA Democratic Teachers’ Union national spokesperson Nomusa Cembi said: “We are happy that the president will finally sign the Bela Bill into law.
“The bill was concluded during the sixth administration and the president’s signature was the only matter that was outstanding. We cannot allow political egos to defeat the collective will and desire of the majority of society to transform our education system.” – Additional reporting by Okuhle Hlati
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