The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) notes that President Cyril Ramaphosa today signed the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill (BELA) into law, despite widespread public rejection and great concern over the Bill’s constitutionality.
President Ramaphosa has, however, postponed the implementation of Clauses 4 and 5 for three months to allow for further engagement with various stakeholders. These clauses relate to School Governing Bodies (SGBs) and mother tongue language education.
Whilst the ACDP welcomes this extension of the implementation of these clauses, we still believe that the Bill, as a whole, should have been referred back to Parliament given the vigorous opposition received from the ACDP, other political parties, parents, religious leaders, civil society, community leaders, homeschoolers and SGBs.
There are certain issues which are not covered in the extension, issues which in the main relate to homeschoolers and learner pregnancy. These are matters that are deeply concerning to the ACDP and many others. In this regard, we will consider all our options moving forward.
The ACDP was at the forefront of opposition to the BELA Bill in the Basic Education Portfolio Committee during the Sixth Parliament, where former ACDP MP, Marie Sukers, robustly contested provisions which impacted on homeschooling and learner pregnancy, the closing of rural schools, criminalising parents, and limiting the powers of school governing bodies. She successfully galvanised public opinion against the Bill, which was expressed both in the thousands of written public submissions sent and during the many public hearings held on the Bill.
