The African National Congress (ANC) study group on basic education has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to implement parts of the Basic Education Amendment Laws (Bela) Act he had halted until after consultation.
The call comes after the Democratic Alliance (DA), Freedom Front Plus, Solidarity and AfriForum held a march against the Bela Act on Tuesday, 5 November, saying it is a direct attack to Afrikaans and mother-tongue education.
ANC CALLS ON RAMAPHOSA TO IMPLEMENT BELA ACT ASAP
The ANC study group said the notion that the Bela Act infringes on being taught in one’s mother tongue language is disinformation.
“We must be clear that when these ethno-nationalist parties speak of marching for the protection of indigenous languages, it very simply means that they are marching for the protection of the Afrikaans language only and white privilege.
“It is disingenuous to claim that the Afrikaans language , like all the other languages, is under threat. Similarly, there is no centralisation of powers and the belief that the Bela Act will remove all school governing body (SGB) powers and place the powers to govern in the hands of heads of departments is inaccurate. Rather, SGBs will maintain authority over language and administrative policies, subject to the head of department approval aligned with the Constitution,” the ANC’s Tshepo Louw said.
Further, Louw said there are challenges in basic education that impede progress as learners have been denied admission to schools because of their language policies.
“We will not let language, spatial planning nor money be used as exclusionary tools,” Louw added.
DA, FF PLUS JOIN MARCH ‘TO PROTECT MOTHER-TONGUE EDUCATION’
During the march on Tuesday, Steenhuisen emphasised that the DA has long opposed Clauses 4 and 5 of the Bela Act.
Steenhuisen said these clauses give the state too much control over who gets an education at any particular school, and in what language.
“The constitution is clear, everyone has the right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice. These hard-fought rights enshrined in our constitution cannot simply be given away at the stroke of a pen.
“Schools, through their governing bodies, are able to make decisions which reflect the needs of parents and the local communities. We cannot allow this authority to be handed over to an official in a provincial office, far from the needs and wants of community members. Protection of mother-tongue education is critical,” he said.
‘PEOPLE ARE ANGRY’
AfriForum chief executive officer (CEO) Kallie Kriel, labelled the protest march as a “historic day” and the largest march of Afrikaans speakers since 1994.
Kriel said people are angry, and they came to show it.
“A law that targets Afrikaans schools and threatens our cultural survival has angered them,” he said.
DO YOU THINK PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA WOULD IMPLEMENT CLAUSE 4 AND 5 OF THE BELA ACT THAT HAVE BEEN HALTED AFTER CONSULTATION?
Let us know by clicking on the comment tab below this article or by emailing info@thesouthafrican.com or sending a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. You can also follow @TheSAnews on X and The South African on Facebook for the latest news.
