The ACDP has rejected the adoption of the BELA Bill in a meeting of Parliament’s PC on Basic Education. It is our contention that this legislation fails to address the necessary reform needed in education. The Bill is a patch job that creates more jobs for bureaucrats that will not necessarily address the needs of children – especially children in rural areas and towns whose small schools are under threat of closure.

The ACDP notes with serious concern the developments in the Namakhoi Municipality where a joint operation, earlier this week, between the Department of Home Affairs and the South African Police Service saw hundreds of illegal foreign miners removed from the Kleinsee area.

Ultimately the buck stops with the executive, and they must hold officials accountable who fail to do their job. The poor implementation of Service Level Agreements, ineffective procurement and contract management is at the heart of these monumental failures.

Ultimately the buck stops with the executive, and they must hold officials accountable who fail to do their job. The poor implementation of service level agreements, ineffective procurement and contract management is at the heart of these monumental failures.

Unless we are serious about compliance and adherence to due process as Members of Parliament, there will continue to be adverse judgements against parliament. We are not to rubber stamp the law as proposed by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) or the Executive.

Shenge will be sorely missed not only by the Family of Buthelezi, but also by the people of South Africa. May the Lord strengthen the Buthelezi family, and all those mourning Prince Buthelezi’s passing, during this time of bereavement.

It is our duty to ensure that as lawmakers we give due regard to their voices, and that of every other South African who made oral and written submissions on the Bill.

It is the view of the ACDP that the findings of SARS and the SARB lends credence to the now established hypothesis, that some people are more equal than others. The message this sends to the South African public is that No.1 must be protected at all costs.

The specific mention of countries that outlaws homeschooling by Parliamentary Legal Services during the deliberations on the clause, will add to the fear of homeschoolers that the state seeks to make homeschooling unaffordable with stricter controls to limit homeschooling.

ACDP and DA Members of Parliament walked out on the first day of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill (BELA Bill) clause-by-clause deliberations following a rancorous debate between them and ANC MPs over the final report on the public participation process.

South Africans won’t allow for either covert racism on the part of some governing bodies or excessive power to be placed in the hands of the State.

“I can’t see how a clause, like Clause 41(aA) that wants to empower the Minister to make regulations on learner pregnancy is not going to involve making those regulations in terms of the national policy that is currently in force. That’s why despite all efforts to silence me I am going to call this a ‘School’s Abortion Bill’.”