WC rejects BELA in negotiating mandate; calls for Bill to be withdrawn

16 April 2024

Having considered more than five thousand submissions from the public and having engaged in an extensive public participation process, the Western Cape Standing Committee on Education yesterday finalised its negotiating mandate on the Basic Education Law Amendment (BELA) Bill to the National Council of Provinces. The committee voted to oppose the Bill and recommended that it be withdrawn.

The votes on the Bill were as follows:

Baartman (DA) - Oppose

Poole (DA) - Oppose

Fry (DA) - Oppose

Christians (ACDP) - Oppose

Harris (ANC) - Support

This decision is based on two sets of factors. The first is the prevailing sentiment of the public, which was expressed through an extensive and unprecedentedly well-attended public participation process. The committee received 5 445 submissions in writing: 3 345 by email or in print; 1 670 through the online questionnaire created by Provincial Parliament’s staff; and 430 on the WhatsApp line created for the purpose. In addition, the committee held eight in-person engagements in Beaufort West, Bitou, George, Mossel Bay, Paarl, Saldanha Bay, and Cape Town. In total, these hearings saw 2 997 persons attend.

In its deliberations on the public submissions on Friday and Monday, the committee found that the overwhelming majority of submissions were against the Bill. This indicates clearly that the people of the Western Cape do not wish for this Bill to become law.

In addition to this, the committee has also uncovered evidence of a severe deficit in funding for the Bill, with neither the national Department of Basic Education (DBE) nor National Treasury willing to commit to the multi-billion Rand cost of implementing the Bill. At a committee meeting held on the 11th of April, both of these national government entities admitted that the cost of BELA will primarily have to be carried by already cash-strapped provincial governments. According to a briefing to the committee by the Financial and Fiscal Commission, this cost can be conservatively estimated at R17.7 billion, since the DBE formula is based on a teacher-learner ratio of 1:40. Further, this amount does not account for uncosted matters such as increases in nutrition and transport programmes – and yet is still much higher than the estimate claimed by the DBE.

Based on these two factors – overwhelming public sentiment and serious concerns about the financial timebomb that this Bill represents – the committee resolved to reject the Bill in its entirety, and to request its withdrawal. The lone dissenting vote in this matter came from the ANC, which chose to support the Bill in its entirety.

While the committee’s resolution represents a categorical rejection of the Bill, the committee also included amendments to be made to a number of clauses in the alternative. These are included in the event that the Bill is not rejected by the NCOP, but do not diminish the committee’s call for the Bill to be thrown out in its entirety. This was to ensure that the Committee fights issues such as centralisation and infringement upon rights of privacy at every possible corner. The committee’s full report can be read here.

DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Education, Deidré Baartman says: “What we have seen over the last few weeks is an unprecedented outpouring of public opposition to this Bill, much of which mirrors our own concerns over this ANC-devised Bill as the DA. In addition to this, our processing of this Bill in committee has also uncovered the fact that this Bill stands to cost the taxpayer billions of Rands more than was claimed by national government, and that no plan has been made to pay for the more than R17 billion that this Bill would cost. Based on these two factors, the committee has voted to reject the Bill in its entirety, and to call for it to be withdrawn.”

Issued by Deidré Baartman, DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Education, 16 April 2024