DA calls on President Ramaphosa to honour BELA Act commitment and call into line his divergent ANC
6 November 2024
With just over one month until the window of consultation closes on clauses 4 and 5 of the BELA Act, the DA calls on President Cyril Ramaphosa to reject yesterday’s reckless demand of the ANC Study Group on Basic Education to immediately promulgate all sections of the BELA Act.
Because the President has assured stakeholders of a process of consultation to resolve the contentious clauses, he must stand firm on this commitment, and demonstrate that it was not a hollow gesture.
Calls from the ANC to push through the BELA Act without further consultation are divisive and contradict the ANC’s own commitment to the Government of National Unity.
The DA has consistently opposed Clauses 4 and 5 of the BELA Act, which threaten to place disproportionate control over language and admission policies in the hands of provincial governments, and strip parents and School Governing Bodies (SGBs) of their rights. This undermines the foundational principles of community participation and local decision-making in schools.
In addition, the BELA Act will do nothing to address the real crisis facing education, which is the abysmal quality of the majority of schools.
Clause 4 (sections d, e, f) and Clause 5 (a) and (c) pose a serious risk to mother-tongue education, a right that should be upheld and developed for all South Africans.
We will not allow the ANC to steamroll this Act into law. It is time for President Cyril Ramaphosa to pull his party into line. As a participant in the Government of National Unity, the ANC at all levels must respect that their party is not the sole arbiter of government policy.
The DA stands with all parents, teachers, and communities in defending the right to a say in their children’s education and in safeguarding South Africa’s diverse educational landscape. Together, the ANC’s divergent attempts to push this Act into force, must be rejected.
Issued by Willie Aucamp, DA National Spokesperson, 6 November 2024
