Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched against the Bela Bill in Pretoria yesterday in what was believed to be the biggest protest by the Afrikaner community since 1994.
AfriForum members and more than 40 other organisations gathered at the Voortrekker Monument to march to Freedom Park where they handed over a memorandum of demands and objections against the bill to the Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen, Minister of Sports Gayton McKenzie and Minister of Correctional Services Dr Pieter Groenewald who supported the protest and represented the DA, Patriotic Alliance and Freedom Front Plus parties.
AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said they were fighting for cultural survival as the Act threatens the rights of Afrikaans children to mother-tongue education.
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Despite widespread opposition to the bill, calls for it to be returned to Parliament and threats of legal action, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed it into law in September. However he delayed the implementation of two clauses for three months to allow for further consultation.
The delayed clauses refer to school admissions and language policies. Currently the BELA Act stipulates that the provincial government determines a school’s language of instruction.
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