Crucial Bela Bill showdown in Cape Town

A seven-year battle for parental rights in education was set for a public showdown in the Western Cape Provincial Legislature this evening at the last public participation hearing on the controversial Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill (Bela Bill) before it completes its legislative journey.

Philip Rosenthal of ChristianView Network who has been fighting for changes to the bill since it was introduced in 2017 told Gateway News: “Today’s public participation in the Western Cape Provincial Legislature is strategically important because they are the legislature most likely to be sympathetic to our concerns and thus voice these concerns to the National Council of Provinces.

“Since 2017 we have been fighting for every clause and every word. The government and the National Assembly has agreed to two thirds of what we asked for in 2017. Now we must fight for the last third of what we want at the National Council of Provinces.”

Rosenthal said they were hoping for significant gains out of this evening’s hearing where opponents of the bill’s push to limit parents’ say in how their children are educated and give more authority to the state, are motivating amendments. [See summary of changes being sought].

“We are not going to stop there if they don’t listen. Millions of rands have been budgeted to fight on at the Constitutional Court. This is the biggest legislation battle since the 1994 transition,” he said.

Ahead of this evening’s hearing groups of protesters participated in a city centre march oganised by various groups including #Hope4SA, and a picket outside the legislature organised by the ACDP.

ACDP MP Marie Sukers, who serves on the Basic Education Portfolio Committee in the National Assembly, and who has been at the forefront of opposition to the bill, said in a video clip that the ANC seems intent to adopt the bill despite the fact that it has been rejected by the majority of South Africans in all nine provinces.

“South Africans have made their voices heard loud and clear. We will not stand for the usurping of parental rights or for the undermining of communities and school governing bodies. And so, this fight is far from over. If the African National Congress continues to adopt this flawed legislation, then we must make sure that the Bela Bill is not an election issue — it must be the election issue,” she said.

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