South Africa - Pretoria - 13 September 2024 - President Cyril Ramaphosa with Deputy Minister of Basic Education Dr Makgabo Mhaule after signing the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill into law at the Union Buildings. Picture: Jacques Naude / Independent Newspapers
President Cyril Ramaphosa has bent over backwards by signing the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Bill into law under duress according to the Congress of SA Trade Union.
The trade union leaders along with its tripartite alliance, The SA Communist Party have been against the Government of National Unity after a poor.
The Union, on Friday, expressed disappointment over Ramaphosa's decision to “delay” the implementation of two clauses of the basic education law, despite signing it into law on September 13, 2024.
The trade union had not anticipated this move, given Ramaphosa's earlier announcement that he would sign the bill into law.
However, the union appreciates the three-month time frame set by the President for further engagement on the clauses related to school admissions and language policy.
The union has emphasised that any further proposals must enhance the progressive objectives and clauses of the Bela Act, and has offered its assistance to ensure the bill's implementability within the specified time frame.
Meanwhile the DA has instructed its lawyers to prepare for court action against the bill, citing constitutional grounds. This move comes after Ramaphosa signed it into law, despite opposition from the DA and other parties.
The DA objects to the bill's provisions, particularly Sections 4 and 5, which empower provincial departments to override school governing bodies on language policy decisions. The party argues that this violates the constitutional rights of parents and governing bodies in functional schools.
President Ramaphosa has announced a three-month delay in implementing the clauses, citing the need for further discussions.
However, the DA remains sceptical, viewing this as a potential delaying tactic to defuse opposition before implementing the clauses later.
DA leader John Steenhuisen emphasised that the party will continue to fight the bill, including in the courts, if necessary. He argued that Afrikaans medium schools, which constitute less than 5% of the country's schools, are not contributing to the education crisis and should not be targeted.
The DA is calling on the government to focus on improving the vast majority of poorly performing schools that teach through the medium of English, rather than violating the constitutional rights of parents and governing bodies in functional schools.
Previously The Star reported that the DA and the Freedom Front Plus, another member of the GNU, came out in dissent on Tuesday with the former threatening to leave the GNU.
Even though it was not clear if there were last-minute deliberations over the signing of the bill, the DA confirmed through its spokesperson Willie Aucamp that it would be going to court if Ramaphosa went ahead to sign.
Since its inception, the GNU has been on rocky ground with the two parties disagreeing on most of the decisions to be taken. But this latest policy argument has to be the first major test for the GNU after elections, thrusting the new arrangement into near disarray.
While Ramaphosa was mum, on the sidelines of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) question-and-answer session in Cape Town on Thursday, ABC insiders said it was clear that the president would be signing the bill.
Steenhuisen had warned that by signing the bill, Ramaphosa would be endangering the future of the GNU.
Speaking at the Cape Town Press Club in Newlands on Thursday, he said if Ramaphosa signed the bill the party would consider all options.
“We do not believe that the president should sign the Bela Bill tomorrow (today), among other issues. We believe that the bill compromises the rights of children, mother tongue education and that’s why I met the president yesterday and I really hope that we can find a common way forward.
“But if the president does go ahead tomorrow and sign the bill we will have to consider all of our options on the way forward,” he said.
Steenhuisen said that while his party was committed to the GNU, he was not going to cower when things go wrong.
“My party and I are not going to let anything get in the way of ensuring that growth goes up and unemployment goes down. And if that means causing a bit of distress within the GNU … well so be it … the people of SA and their interests are far more important than the feelings of politicians.
“I also want to make it clear that we will not shy away from conflict when we are confronted with serious and lasting damage to our country … Conflict over policy is not necessarily an existential threat to the government but that does not mean we would not walk away under any circumstances,” Steenhuisen said.
Without saying whether the bill would be signed into law on Saturday, Ramaphosa vowed the GNU was going nowhere.
Saturday Star
mashudu.sadike@inl.co.za