By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will proceed to sign a Presidential Proclamation to bring Basic Education Laws Amendment Act (Bela Act) into operation with immediate effect, presidency confirmed in a statement.
In a statement released on Friday afternoon, presidency said Ramaphosa’s decision follows a report from clearing house mechanism committee.
Ramaphosa said: “I accordingly advised them that I would proceed to sign a Presidential Proclamation to bring the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act into operation from today. I have instructed the Minister of Basic Education to see to the full implementation of the BELA Act.
“I have also instructed the Minister [of Basic Education] to do what is necessary, as is customary with any law, to ensure that the timeframe of implementation – particularly with regard to the preparedness of the system for universal Grade R access – and the consequential regulations setting out the norms and standards are prepared.”
Ramaphosa said all bodies and officials responsible for the implementation of this act are required at all times to act in accordance with the Constitution, the law, and the relevant policies and regulations.
The Act in question was passed by a National Assembly vote in May 2024 and was hailed as a critical milestone in the transformation of the education sector, despite opposition to the final Bill by the Democratic Alliance (DA), ActionSA and the African Christian Democratic Party.
Ramaphosa signed the Bela Bill into law on 13 September 2024, but said he would delay the implementation of the two clauses (Section 4 and 5) for three months for negotiations with parties in the Government of National Unity (GNU).
Sections 4 and 5 of the Act provide for SGBs to maintain control over language and admissions policies, subject to oversight from the provincial head of department, in accordance with the Constitution.
Those opposed to clauses 4 and 5 say that they will reduce the authority of school governing bodies and centralise decision-making power, particularly about admissions and language policies. The fear is that schools may be forced to take learners from other language groups, resulting in changes to the language policies of those schools.
On Thursday, 12 December 2024,Deputy president Paul Mashatile, who chairs the clearing house mechanism, met with GNU leaders to deliberate on a report from the subcommittee tasked with providing inputs on the contentious sections of the Act.
“The meeting considered the report and its recommendations,” Mashatile confirmed to Fullview.
Speaking at the South African Communist Party special national congress in Boksburg on Friday morning, Mashatile confirmed that the clearing house had finished its work on the Bela Act on Thursday and he had presented the report to Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa confirmed he received a report from the GNU’s clearing house mechanism, which was established to resolve fundamental differences within the new government.
In stark contrast to the party’s pre-election and pre-GNU stance on the BELA laws, the DA is now on board.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said the party sees the result—the full implementation of the BELA Act with no amendments—as a “win-win compromise.”
“We have full confidence in Minister Gwarube’s ability to introduce fit-for-purpose guidelines that will protect school autonomy from subversion.
“The President’s announcement that the BELA Act be implemented in full was accepted by all the parties involved in the Task Team (DA, FF-Plus, GOOD and ANC) on condition that Gwarube issues norms, standards and regulations to govern the implementation of the contested sections of the Act.
“This has been a gruelling process, but this outcome has illustrated that the conflict resolutions of the GNU can work if parties show the necessary goodwill, “Steenhuisen said.