By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Democratic Alliance (DA), Freedom Front Plus, Patriotic Alliance (PA), Solidarity, AfriForum and other partners painted Voortrekker Monument in Tshwane orange in protest against the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act (BELA).
Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the BELA Bill into law, despite a significant degree of public rejection and concern over its constitutionality.
In making this decision, I am drawing on a tradition of engagement that goes back many years, including the drafting of our Constitution. At the time of the drafting of the new Constitution, we had to resolve our seemingly intractable differences that had occurred over issues such as the right to strike, language, education and land,” said Ramaphosa at the time.
Ramaphosa remitted clauses 4 and 5 of the bill to Parliament for further consultations on the implementation date for clauses 4 and 5 of the bill by three months.
Sections 4 and 5 of the bill deal with language and admissions policy at schools, which the organisations argue give the State “too much” control over where children attend schools and in what language.
The bill seeks to amend certain sections of the South African Schools Act, including schools’ admission policies and language.
DA leader John Steenhuisen, the cabinet minister in the Government of National Unity (GNU), told the marchers that his party has long opposed clauses 4 and 5 of the bill.
“In simple terms, these clauses give the state too much control over who gets an education at any particular school and in what language. The Constitution is clear everyone has the right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice,” said Steenhuisen.
He pointed out that these rights are enshrined in the Constitution and can’t simply be given away at the stroke of a pen.
Steenhuisen said schools, through their governing bodies, can make decisions which reflect the needs of parents and the local communities.
“We can’t allow this authority to be handed over to an official in a provincial office, far from the needs and wants of community members. Protection of mother-tongue education is critical.
“Imagine trying to learn maths or science in a language which is not your home language or which you don’t understand. We will never allow that,” he said.
AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said the protest wasn’t just a fight against the bill, but for cultural survival.
“This is the biggest protest from the Afrikaans community since 1994 because people are angry. Bela Act is targeting Afrikaans schools, specifically our children,” he said.
Kriel said that a school’s language and admission policy should be determined by governing bodies.
Meanwhile Labour Federation Cosatu has demanded that the president immediately promulgated the Act in its current form, as it contained several progressive and long-overdue provisions.
“Whilst Cosatu acknowledges every citizen’s constitutional right to protest, we strongly condemn the individuals in the crowd who saw the march as an opportunity to display old apartheid era flags,” said Cosatu spokeswoman Zanele Sabela.
“The federation calls on the (SA) Human Rights Commission to launch an investigation and hold the responsible individuals accountable particularly as the DA, AfriForum and Solidariteit (Solidarity) have been adamant that their protest against the BELA Act is not about race.”
She said these organisations were creating a storm in a teacup because as the Act currently stood, it provided school governing bodies with the power to draft their school’s admissions and language policies.
The Bela Act is the first real test for the GNU. If the GNU passes this test, the future looks good and can move closer to a united South Africa.