Senior officials of the Department of Education want to sabotage Bela discussions
21 October 2024
AfriForum and Solidarity are accusing senior officials of the National Department of Basic Education of acting contemptuously towards President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to grant an opportunity for further discussions about the language clauses in the Bela Act and that they are set on sabotaging these discussions.
This follows after officials, including the spokesperson for the Department of Education, Elijah Mahlangu, tried to promote their own political agenda and, among other things, misrepresented information to the Sunday Times regarding the content of a meeting between the Deputy Minister of Education, Regina Mhaule, and AfriForum, Solidarity and Saai on 1 October. This meeting was held with Mhaule in her capacity as ANC representative. The Sunday Times reported on the officials’ comments yesterday.
According to Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, it is inappropriate that officials affords themselves the right to evade their political heads, like the President and the Minister and Deputy Minister of Education, by entering the political debate about Bela and in the process exhibit the same anti-Afrikaans sentiment as someone like Panyaza Lesufi.
“This ideologically driven behaviour is further exacerbated by the fact that these officials are even willing to falsely present the concerns of Afrikaans organisations that the polarising impact of Bela could jeopardise a healthy cooperative relationship with the government as a threat to discontinue projects in poor communities. AfriForum’s development projects against poverty, which have already been undertaken together with communities such as the AmaBhele and Barolong Boo Seleka, as well as the planned projects together with the Zulu king, King Misuzulu kaZwelithini, are in no way related to the dispute that is currently ongoing with the government over the Bela Act,” says Kriel.
Dr Dirk Hermann, CEO of Solidarity, says that the education officials entry into the political debate is nothing new, seeing that the senior officials who inexplicably attended the meeting on 1 October have already shown during this meeting that they are not open to meaningful discussions about Bela, while one senior official, James Ndlebe, was openly hostile towards the Afrikaans organisations and stated that the implementation of the two clauses that were postponed for further discussion is an irrefutable fact.”
“Solidarity, AfriForum and other role players remain committed to the discussion process that President Ramaphosa has established, but for the process to succeed it is necessary that ideologically driven officials in the education department must not interfere in any way with the process and try to derail it,” adds Hermann.
Meanwhile, the Solidarity Movement, AfriForum, Solidarity, the School Support Centre and numerous other Afrikaans institutions continue with plans to hold a march against the Bela Act from the Voortrekker Monument to Freedom Park on 5 November at 9:00. Large numbers of people have already registered to participate at www.belaprotes.co.za.
Furthermore, more than 222 000 people have already signed AfriForum’s petition against the Bela Act at www.stopbela.co.za.
Issued by Kallie Kriel, CEO, AfriForum, 21 October 2024
