All eyes will be on the Union Buildings today where President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to sign the contentious Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Bill. Photographer: Armand Hough / Independent Newspapers
All eyes will be on the Union Buildings today where President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to sign the contentious Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Bill that has cast a dark cloud over the Government of National Unity (GNU).
The DA, the second-biggest party represented in the GNU, threw its toys out of the cot this week in disagreement with the bill, with much of the noise coming from its leader, John Steenhuisen.
The DA and the Freedom Front Plus, another member of the GNU, came out in dissent on Tuesday with the former threatening to leave the GNU.
Even though it was not clear if there were last-minute deliberations over the signing of the bill, the DA confirmed through its spokesperson Willie Aucamp that it would be going to court if Ramaphosa went ahead to sign.
Since its inception, the GNU has been on rocky ground with the two parties disagreeing on most of the decisions to be taken but this latest policy argument has to be the first major test for the GNU after elections, thrusting the new arrangement into near disarray.
While Ramaphosa was mum, on the sidelines of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) question-and-answer session in Cape Town on Thursday, ANC insiders said it was clear that the president would be signing the bill.
Steenhuisen had warned that by signing the bill, Ramaphosa would be endangering the future of the GNU.
Speaking at the Cape Town Press Club in Newlands on Thursday, he said if Ramaphosa signed the bill the party would consider all options.
“We do not believe that the president should sign the Bela Bill tomorrow (today), among other issues. We believe that the bill compromises the rights of children, mother tongue education and that’s why I met the president yesterday and I really hope that we can find a common way forward.
“But if the president does go ahead tomorrow and sign the bill we will have to consider all of our options on the way forward,” he said.
Steenhuisen said that while his party was committed to the GNU, he was not going to cower when things go wrong.
“My party and I are not going to let anything get in the way of ensuring that growth goes up and unemployment goes down. And if that means causing a bit of distress within the GNU … well so be it … the people of SA and their interests are far more important than the feelings of politicians.
“I also want to make it clear that we will not shy away from conflict when we are confronted with serious and lasting damage to our country … Conflict over policy is not necessarily an existential threat to the government but that does not mean we would not walk away under any circumstances,” Steenhuisen said.
Without saying whether the bill would be signed into law today, Ramaphosa vowed that the GNU was not going anywhere.
“With the GNU we are in a new era in the political and economic life of our country. This is an era that is pregnant with many possibilities, very good possibilities for our country. On a political level, it has stabilised. We are united as the 10 political parties in working together and ensuring that we have a strong, effective government that will lead the process of development, transformation and economic growth in our country and to address socio-economic challenges that our people are facing.
“Therefore I speak so gladly about the Government of National Unity as all of us who are involved in it speak about it because it’s going to usher in great developments and opportunities for our people … and I’m glad that many of our people support the GNU. As I travel through the length and breadth of our country I find that there is so much support and we still need to explain to our people what kind of animal this is,” he said.
Pushed into answering whether there were still negotiations with the DA over the signing of the bill, Ramaphosa invited journalists to the Union Buildings to witness it.
“Tomorrow I’d like you to be there when we are at the Union Buildings. Please come and hear for yourself what we will be precisely doing. I don't want to steal the thunder of tomorrow,” said Ramaphosa.
He denied knowing of any impending legal action.
“I have not heard the threat of going to court but courts are the final arbiter in our country so anybody at any time who is enabled has power to go to any court to have what they may perceive as a dispute to be arbitrated, but tomorrow we will be able to say a lot of things about the process that will unfold,” he said.
Political analyst Professor Sethutego Matebesi said he was not surprised that there were arguments in the GNU marriage.
“It’s not unprecedented. From time to time there will be challenges in the GNU …The DA keep on threatening that they are going to walk away but the cake is too large for them to just pack and walk away and I think that will be suicidal at a later stage because many South Africans will ask questions about their loyalty towards the interest of the general public instead of their party. But going forward from time to time, I refer to this Bela Bill. We all knew from the onset that the DA had a completely different stance than the ANC and one can’t blame them now,” he said.
The Star
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