At the time of posting this report in time for our weekly newsletter deadline, South Africans are waiting to see if South Africa president, Cyril Ramaphosa, will sign the contentious Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Bill into law later this morning despite the risk of serious political and legal pushback if he does.
Along with many Christians, Gateway News is praying that even at this late hour Ramaphosa will adopt a statesmanlike approach and heed the many calls for him to send the bill back to the House of Assembly.
The president’s announcement that he would publicly sign the Bill at the Union Buildings today provoked immediate responses from opponents of the law, including the DA which warned that “if the president continues to ride rough-shod over these objections, he is endangering the future of the Government of National Unity” and the Trust for Afrikaans Education, which says the law will immediately be taken to court on grounds of unconstitutionality by organisations like Solidarity and the SA Onderwysersunie. The Trust for Afrikaans Education says the main legal argument will be that Bela violates Section 29(2) of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to mother-tongue education. By granting provincial heads of education the authority to override language and admission policies, Bela effectively nullifies this constitutional right. The DA, which says it opposes the Bela Bill because it has constitutional implications for the right to mother-tongue education, amongst other issues. has also said it would go to court if the bill becomes law.
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In an extrordinary turn of events, the Basic Education Minister, Siviwe Gwarube, says in a statement she will boycott the president’s bill signing ceremony. A DA member of the GNU, she says she opposes the bill in its present form and has asked Rampaphosa to refer it back to Parliament for reconsideration in terms of section 78 of the Constitution,
In a statement released this week the ACDP noted that former ACDP MP Marie Sukers was at the forefront of opposition to the Bela Bill in the Basic Education Portfolio Committee in the Sixth Parliament, contesting provisions which impacted homeschooling, learner pregnancy, closing of rural schools, criminalising parents, limiting the powers of school governing bodies, and which resulted in what we believe to be ministerial overreach on parental rights. She also successfully galvanized public opinion against the Bill, as expressed both in the thousands of written public submissions and during the many public hearings held on the Bill, which included parents, religious leaders, civil society, community leaders, homeschoolers and school governing bodies, says the ACDP.
The party says: “In addition to objections to the inclusion of Grade R in primary schools which will have a negative impact on Early Childhood Development (ECD) entrepreneurs (the majority of whom are previously disadvantaged women residing in townships), National Treasury indicated that the estimated R16bn needed to implement the Bill (to fund the expansion of Grade R at more than 7 800 schools) was an ‘unfunded mandate’, i.e. that funds are not available for this purpose. This is likely to remain the case in the foreseeable future, given the financial constraints facing government.”
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Since leaving Parliament, Sukers formed an organisation, Voice to Parliament, which wrote to the president, urging him to refer the bill back to the National Assembly for a proper public participation process.
In a message shared on social media today she says: “The tide has turned, we must now employ the strategies of mass mobilization, because we will never fight from the back foot ever again! Mobilize by sharing, inspire and fight with hope! We never surrender!!
“Let the Christian Democrats Arise!!”
Watch the video below in which she addresses the president on how the bill hurts the voiceless.
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