ANC Study Group on Basic Education urges the President to promulgate commencement of all sections of the BELA Act with immediate effect
5 November 2024
The African National Congress (ANC) Study Group on Basic Education in Parliament believes that the latest march by the Democratic Alliance, Afriforum, Freedom Front Plus, Patriotic Alliance and Solidarity against the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act arguing that the Act will limit mother-tongue education and take away decision-making from school governing bodies, is clearly misguided. The notion that the Act infringes on being taught in one's mother tongue language is disinformation. The BELA Act instead encourages schools to accommodate more languages.
We must be clear that when these ethno-nationalist parties speak of marching for the protection of indigenous languages, it very simply means that they are marching for the protection of the Afrikaans language only and white privilege. It is disingenuous to claim that the Afrikaans language, like all other languages, is under threat. Similarly, there is no centralisation of powers and the belief that the Act will remove all School Governing Body (SGB) powers and place the powers to govern in the hands of Heads of Departments is inaccurate. Rather, SGBs will maintain authority over language and administrative policies, subject to the Head of Department approval aligned with the Constitution.
A school is not and cannot be seen as a static and insular entity; institutions must adapt and develop. Their fiduciary duty then, is to the institution as a dynamic part of an evolving society.
The governing body of a public school must, in addition, recognise that it is entrusted with a public resource which must be managed not only in the interests of those who happen to be earners and parents at the time, but also, in the interests of the broader community in which the school is located and in alignment with the values of our Constitution.
Seeking to redress the imbalances that exist within our education system is what the Act is ultimately aiming to do and any opposition to this, is opposition to achieving an inclusive and equitable educational system. There are challenges in basic education that impede our progress. We have seen cases of learners being denied admission to schools because of their language policies. There have been great disparities in norms and standards, in governance and in access to resources in schools. This Act seeks to address these challenges and is part of the state's ongoing efforts to build an education system that is more effective and more equitable. Nation building and social cohesion are the cornerstones of our democracy, and the ANC believes that education is a crucial pillar in helping us build a united nation whilst ethnic nationalism is one such threat to nation building. We will not let language, spatial planning nor money be used as exclusionary tools and we will not betray the Class of 1976.
Section 79. (I) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa states that "the President must either assent to and sign a Bill passed in terms of this Chapter or, If the President has reservations about the constitutionality of the Bill, refer it back to the National Assembly for reconsideration". This section of our Constitution is instructive that once a Bill is passed by Parliament, the President must either assent to it and sign it or retum it to the National Assembly on the grounds of constitutionality.
The Study Group is confident that the BELAAct passes constitutional muster and reaffrms its support for the Act. Further, no Bill of Parliament which has gone through a thorough and comprehensive public participation process can and should be amended through coercion, intimidation and political posturing. The ANC Study Group on Basic Education urges the President to promulgate the commencement of all sections of the BELA Act with immediate effect.
Issued by Tshepo Louw, Whip of the ANC Study Group on Basic Education, 5 November 2024
