Cape Forum makes Western Cape’s voice heard in BELA submission after dispute over selective participation
13 March 2024
The civil rights organisation Cape Forum also got the opportunity today at the eleventh hour to make its presentation on the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill (the so-called BELA Bill) to the Standing Committee on Education and Technology, Sport, Arts and Culture. This follows after Cape Forum submitted its written comments on the Bill on 31 January this year and also requested to make an oral submission to the committee. Although the committee offered an opportunity for oral submissions on 6, 7 and 8 March, Cape Forum was not invited to participate.
This forced the organisation on Monday to instruct its lawyers to write a letter about this to the committee. The unique demographics of the community represented by Cape Forum have been highlighted in this writing. The letter also slammed Cape Forum’s exclusion from the process and argued that it “raises concerns regarding the inclusivity and representativeness of the legislative process, particularly in reflecting the diverse population of the Western Cape”.
However, in response to the letter, Cape Forum was informed on Tuesday that the organisation had been excluded due to an administrative error. In an attempt to rectify this, Cape Forum was therefore granted an opportunity to present their oral submission during the committee’s meeting today.
According to Bernard Pieters, Manager of Community Activation at Cape Forum, the organisation’s original exclusion from the process raised red flags about selective participation – and therefore discrimination. “However, we were able to make the Western Cape’s voice heard loud and clear today. Today’s presentation was, in contrast to the legal technical nature of our written comments, much more focused on the practical implications that the implementation of the proposed Bill could entail. The committee simply needs to hear how these plans will harm people at grassroots level,” emphasises Pieters.