AfriForum says changes to the BELA Bill are mere verbal gymnastics
18 April 2024
AfriForum describes the so-called concessions by the Department of Basic Education to amend the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill (better known as the BELA Bill), which was accepted yesterday by a majority of the National Council of Provinces, as mere verbal gymnastics.
According to Alana Bailey, AfriForum’s Head of Cultural Affairs, AfriForum is not reassured by the amendments. She mentions that the final written draft will be thoroughly studied as soon as it becomes available with a view to the legal course that AfriForum will follow.
The reasons why AfriForum is not satisfied with the changes as they were discussed yesterday, include that:
The provincial heads of Education will still have the final say on language and admissions policies. “That consultation between officials and governing bodies will take place, is quite meaningless. We saw how members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Basic Education had to be forced to take all public input into account a few months ago. Consultation is often used as window dressing to create the illusion that public opinion is being taken into account, while the ANC forges ahead on its ideological path. Sometimes it is also a bullying process to try to force staff and governing bodies to convert single medium Afrikaans schools to parallel or dual medium schools,” she says.