By OBAKENG MAJE
24 December 2024- On 13 September 2024, the Republic of South Africa President, Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act. Ramaphosa said this Act is vital to the transformation of the education system in the country.
He further said the Act is an important part of ongoing efforts to build an education system that is more effective and more equitable in line with the precepts of the constitution. Ramaphosa added that the BELA Act continues the work that has been done over the last 30 years to ensure that all children have equal access to quality education – from their early years and throughout their schooling.
“As a democratic country committed to building a new society, we have stated unequivocally that all children must get an education that prepares them to succeed in life, no matter what the circumstances of their birth might be, no matter where they live, no matter what language they speak.
“In implementing this Act, we are all ultimately guided by the constitution. The Bill of Rights guarantees the right of every person to equality. It guarantees the right of every person to receive a basic education,” he said.
Ramaphosa said importantly, the constitution says that every person has the right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice, where reasonably practicable. He said this is a right that applies equally to an English-speaker as it does a Zulu-speaker.
“It applies equally to someone who speaks Afrikaans as it does to someone who speaks Xitsonga, Sesotho, Sepedi, isiXhosa, Setswana, Tshivenda, isiNdebele or siSwati. And now, it also applies equally to someone who uses the South African Sign Language.
“The Basic Education Laws Amendment Act enacts measures that strengthen the ability of our schools to give effect to these Constitutional rights. In the application of this law, we must ensure that no language is diminished,” said Ramaphosa.
He said rather, they must work to ensure that all official languages are valued and promoted. Ramaphosa said at the time that he assented to the BELA Bill, he noted that a number of parties to the Government of National Unity (GNU), and other key role players in the country had expressed their wish to further engage each other on sections of the bill that deal with issues of admission and language.
“I said that whilst I had assented to the Bill, in the spirit of cooperation and meaningful engagement, I would delay the implementation date of the BELA Act in totality by three months. This would give the parties time to deliberate on these issues and make proposals on how the divergent views may be accommodated.
“I also said should the parties not agree on an approach at the end of the three-month period, I would then direct the Minister and the Department to proceed with the implementation of the Act. Over the last three months, discussions have been held with a view of reaching consensus on these outstanding clauses of the BELA Act,” he said.
Ramaphosa said various formations outside of government have also made representations, both for and against the relevant sections. He said last week, he received a report from the GNU ‘clearing house’ mechanism.
“This is the structure which brings together the parties to the GNU and other parties represented in Parliament to deal with contentious issues and thereafter report to the leaders of the political parties represented in the GNU.
“In their final report, the parties agreed that the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act should not be sent back to Parliament to make changes to the sections that were in contention,” said Ramaphosa.
The Guardian 