By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill into law in a public ceremony at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Friday.
However, he said that he would delay the implementation of clauses 4 and 5—the two provisions related to language and admission policies that have caused upheaval among political parties—by three months for further consultation.
The rest of the Bill will be implemented in the meantime.
“Should the parties not agree on the approach (of clauses 4 and 5), then we will proceed with the full implementation of all parts of the Bill,” said Ramaphosa.
Now an Act, BELA amends sections of the South African Schools Act of 1996 and the Employment of Educators Act of 1998.
Deputy Basic Education Minister Dr. Reginah Mhaule said at the signing that this is to “respond to administrative challenges facing our schools and to continue with the transformation agenda of the education system,” to reflect the “changing demographics of communities.”
While some provisions have been widely welcomed—including expanding the definition of corporal punishment to protect children and criminalising some parental conduct—there are various parts of the Bill which still have many up in arms.
Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube, who will be tasked with overseeing some of the amendments, has stated that she will skip the signing ceremony in protest.
Gwarube is not convinced the Bill is comprehensive in its current form and has requested the president to send it back to Parliament.
“Parliament must be allowed to fix what is currently wrong with the Bill so that millions of learners across the country can access and receive quality education for a better South Africa,” stated Gwarube hours before the signing.
Gwarube’s key objections relate to admissions and language policies, as well as grade R becoming the compulsory school-starting age.
“I have thus written to the president and notified him that, in the present circumstance, I cannot attend today’s signing ceremony until concerns regarding the Bill are rectified,” the minister confirmed.
The Bill has been hotly contested, with Government of National Unity (GNU) partners stating their dissatisfaction with the president’s intentions.
Ramaphosa said that although South Africa has made “notable progress” to the access of education since 1994, “barriers continue to exist in a number of areas… and education outcomes often falls short.”
In providing the right to education, he said that “consideration should be given to equity, practicability and historical redress.”
The President added that to date, many learners “are denied access to schools because of their language policies” and disparities in norms and standards in governance and access to resources to enable education to perform optimally.