BELA Bill: The Gloves Come Off

Dear Editor

The DA has instructed its lawyers to continue to prepare for court action on both the process leading to the adoption of the BELA Bill, as well as its substance, on constitutional grounds.

We note President Ramaphosa’s statement, at the signing ceremony of the BELA Bill today, that the implementation date of its most controversial clauses will be postponed for three months for further discussions on the current impasse relating to Sections 4 and 5 of the Bill.

However, the DA also note the President’s comment that “should the parties not be able to agree on an approach, then we will proceed with the implementation of these parts of the Bill”.

This means that if there is no agreement, the ANC will proceed with implementing the clauses that empower provincial departments to over-ride school governing bodies on the issue of the language policy of schools.

The DA rejects this threat by the President.

We regard his approach as contrary to the spirit of the Statement of Intent that formed the foundation of the GNU, which requires the participating parties to reach “sufficient consensus” on divisive issues.

There could hardly be a more divisive issue in South Africa than the right to mother tongue instruction in schools where this right has been established for decades.

Afrikaans medium schools constitute less than 5% of the country’s schools.

Their existence in no way contributes to the crisis in education, and turning them into dual-medium or English-medium schools will not help improve the quality of education for South Africa’s learners.

The ANC government must stop violating the constitutional rights of parents and governing bodies in functional schools. Instead the government should apply itself to improving the vast majority of poorly performing schools that teach through the medium of English, throughout the country.

If the President is serious about seeking a solution that will protect the constitutional right to mother tongue education, we welcome his announcement of a 3-month delay in the implementation of Clauses 4 and 5 of the Bill. If this is just a delaying tactic to defuse opposition before implementing the clauses at a later point, then we will continue to fight this Bill with everything we have got, including in the courts.

Regards

John Steenhuisen MP
Leader of the Democratic Alliance