BELA – a final breach between the government and the Afrikaans community

2 May 2024

Solidarity rejects the adoption of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill (BELA), calling it a final breach in any relationship of trust that could still exist between the government and the Afrikaans community.

This bill was accepted today thanks to the ANC’s overwhelming majority in the National Council of Provinces (NRP) even though several groups, including Solidarity, considers it a blatant breach of the 1994 Agreement in terms of which the protection of minorities’ language and cultural rights must be guaranteed. 

The BELA amendment centralises decisions on a school’s language and admission policy in the hands of the state even after recent amendments to clauses in terms of which school governing bodies are still allowed to draft such policies themselves.

However, the final say in this regard still vests with a government official who has the power to disapprove and change that policy.

Johnell Prinsloo, education researcher at the Solidarity Research Institute, says that while those amendments have pulled the wool over the eyes of some groups, Solidarity regards them as a smoke screen to force through antagonistic legislation that is attacking Afrikaans education aggressively.

“BELA is nothing but a weapon with which Afrikaans can be ostracised as medium of instruction and with which racial quotas are enforced on schools. While the government argues that governing bodies will retain certain powers, the very same proposed legislation contains provisions that refer directly to section 9(2) of the Constitution dealing with equality and race in South Africa. 

“In this case it is our children’s future that is under siege from the ANC and its cohorts. In essence this is also an attack on minorities’ rights and a total breach of trust between groups – that is between a majority and a minority,” Prinsloo said.

Meanwhile, Solidarity’s legal team will study the legal implications following the NRP’s adoption of BELA. There will also be collaboration with other institutions such as AfriForum and the Solidarity Support Centre for Schools (SCS) to come up with other strong actions outside the courts.

An announcement about the steps and processes Solidarity will use to apply pressure to stop BELA in its tracks will be announced shortly.

Issued by Johnell Prinsloo, Education Researcher: Solidarity Research Institute (SRI), 2 May 2024