Dear Editor
Today, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) opposed the debate on the report of the latest BELA Bill amendments on procedural irregularities that had occurred in the tabling of the Bill before the NCOP House. When the Bill was tabled, the latest amendments were not placed before the House, and instead the old previous version was sent to Members.
At first the ANC indicated that it wanted to proceed with the debate. DA Leader in the NCOP, Cathy Labuschagne, rose on a point of order to advise the House of the material procedural flaw and requested that the Bill be deferred to another sitting. This point was agreed to by Parliament’s Legal Services, which resulted in the ANC having no choice but to postpone the sitting to another date.
It has been clear since day one that the ANC have an obsession to bulldoze this Bill through Parliament before the elections to help the ANC further manipulate the people of South Africa into thinking they care.
The DA has been the strongest voice in opposition to the BELA Bill in Parliament and will continue to place its objection on record at the next sitting. One of the biggest oppositions to the Bill is that it is expected to cost over R17 billion to implement mandatory Grade R, with costs required for the creation of more infrastructure, hiring of additional teachers and equalisation of conditions of services. There is no indication of where this amount will come from, and while the DA supports mandatory Grade R, it must be a phased in approach that will not bankrupt the education department or schools. Through its consistent opposition, the DA ensured that the following changes were made to the Bill in the NCOP:
That the power to determine the language policy was removed from the ANC and vests in the school governing body.
The Minister now can only direct a school to adopt a second language, subject to reasonableness – this takes the power away from the ANC to remove certain languages from schools.
Scholars suspected of serious misconduct may be suspended pending investigation. Previous versions of the Bill prevented learners who were accused of misconduct such as sexual assault from being suspended, meaning that the victim would have to remain in the presence of their attacker.
The BELA Bill will now be on the agenda on the 16th of May. The DA will continue fighting this Bill all the way to the President’s desk and beyond to ensure that the children of our future are not subjected to this archaic bill.
The ANC has shown its hand. It will do anything to ensure it passes Bills such as the BELA and NHI to dupe the people of South Africa with cheap electioneering tricks, with a mirage of a better life. The truth is that under an uncaring and manipulative ANC government, the people of South Africa will get poorer and poorer, that is unless we stand up together and rescue South Africa.
Regards
Baxolile Nodada MP
DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education
Black Walnut
Fun South African Fact: It’s believed that Cape Town’s iconic Table Mountain is one of the oldest mountains in the world. Table mountain is approximately 260 million years old; it’s also home to thousands of species of plant life, including species unique to the Cape Floral Region. The glorious mountain is one of the world’s 7 New Natural Wonders. It is also apparently one of 12 main energy centres on the planet emitting spiritual, magnetic, and electric energies. It’s an idyllic and very popular hiking destination with hundreds of routes to explore.
Turnip King
Diary of an Englishman after he moves to South Africa….
**August 1**: Just got transferred with work from London, UK to our new home in Phalaborwa, Limpopo, South Africa. Now this is a town that knows how to live! Beautiful, sunny days and warm, balmy evenings. I watched the sunset from a deckchair by our pool yesterday. It was beautiful. I’ve finally found my new home. I love it here.
**September 1:** Really heating up now. It got to 31 today. No problem though. Living in air-conditioned home, driving air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I’m turning into a sun-worshipper – no blasted rain like back in London! Had the back yard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of palms and rocks. No more mowing lawns for me! Another scorcher today, but I love it here. It’s Paradise !
**October 1:** The temperature hasn’t been below 35 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it’s windy though. Keeps the flies off a bit. Acclimatizing is taking longer than we expected. Fell asleep by the pool yesterday. Got third degree burns over 60% of my body. Missed three days off work. What a dumb thing to do. Got to respect the old sun in a climate like this!
**October 25:** This wind is a bastard. It feels like a giant fucking blow dryer. And it’s hot as hell! The home air conditioner is on the blink and the repair man charged R200 just to drive over and tell me he needs to order parts from @#$# Johannesburg. The wife & the kids are complaining.
**October 30:** The temperature’s up around 40 and the parts still haven’t arrived for the fucking air conditioner. House is an oven so we’ve all been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. Bleeding R4 million house and we can’t even go inside. Why the hell did I ever come here?
**November 4:** Finally got the fucking air-conditioner fixed. It cost R1,500 and gets the temperature down to around 35 degrees. Stupid repairman. Fucking thief. If one more smart bastard says ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I’m going to fucking throttle him. Fucking heat! By the time I get to work, the car radiator is boiling over, my fucking clothes are soaking fucking wet and I smell like baked cat. Fucking place is the end of the Earth.
**November 9:** Tried to run some errands after work, wore shorts, and sat on the black leather upholstery in my car. I thought my fucking backside was on fire. I lost 2 layers of flesh, all the hair on the backs of my legs and off my fucking behind. Now the car smells like burnt hair, fried bum and baked cat. The Weather report might as well be a fucking recording – hot and sunny. Hot and sunny, Hot and fucking sunny. It’s been too hot to do anything for 2 bleeding months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Fuck!!
**November 15:** Doesn’t it ever rain in this darn place? Water restrictions will be next, so my R5,000 worth of palms might just dry up and blow into the fucking pool. The only things that thrive in this hell-hole are the fucking flies. You don’t dare open your mouth for fear of swallowing half a dozen of the little buzzards!
**November 20:** Welcome to HELL! It got to 45 degrees today. Now the air conditioner is gone in my car. The repair man came to fix it and said, ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I wanted to shove the car up his backside. Anyway, had to spend the R2,500 of the mortgage payment to bail me out of jail for assaulting the stupid fool. Fucking PHALABORWA! What kind of sick, demented idiot would want to live here!
**December 1:** WHAT!!!! The FIRST day of Summer!!!!
You are fucking kidding me, right?