South Africa

Bela Act report is with Ramaphosa, says Mashatile, as consultation deadline arrives

Deputy President Paul Mashatile says the multiparty clearing house has concluded its work on the Bela Act. (Photo: Deaan Vivier / Beeld / Gallo Images)

By Victoria O’Regan

13 Dec 2024

Deputy President Paul Mashatile has said the report from the clearing house mechanism on the Bela Act has been handed to the President.

Three months after President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act into law on 13 September, the grace period for Government of National Unity (GNU) parties to swiftly strike a deal on the implementation of the contentious sections of the Act, has come to an end.

Read more: Despite calls for Ramaphosa to remove Gwarube, coalition reshuffles could be rare

On Thursday, 12 December 2024, Deputy President Paul Mashatile, who chairs the clearing house mechanism, met with GNU leaders to deliberate on a report from the subcommittee tasked with providing inputs on the contentious sections of the Act.

“The meeting considered the report and its recommendations,” Mashatile’s acting spokesperson, Keith Khoza, told Daily Maverick.

Speaking at the South African Communist Party special national congress in Boksburg on Friday morning, Mashatile confirmed that the clearing house had finished its work on the Bela Act on Thursday and he had presented the report to Ramaphosa.

“We finished our job yesterday, on the Bela Act, so last night I went and reported to the President that we are done… The President has the report and he’s going to announce very soon on how we have concluded,” he said.

“He didn’t say today or tomorrow – he said, ‘I will announce’,” Mashatile said.

A GNU party leader within the clearing house told Daily Maverick the clearing house committee was not able to reach consensus on the timeline for implementation of sections 4 and 5 of the Bela Act. The subcommittee had engaged “earnestly, and as far as it could”, but was ultimately not able to resolve the dispute by presenting a single approach to the President, the insider said.

However, the overriding feeling in Thursday’s meeting was that the Act must be implemented, according to the leader.

GNU hurdles

ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile. Deputy President Paul Mashatile says the multiparty clearing house has concluded its work on the Bela Act. (Photo: Deaan Vivier / Beeld / Gallo Images)

The Bela Act was the first really big test for the GNU.

In September, Ramaphosa “suspended” the implementation of sections 4 and 5 of the Act – relating to language policy and admissions processes at schools – for three months, to allow for deliberation among GNU parties, including the DA.

Should the parties not be able to agree on an approach – I want to make this clear – then we will proceed with a full implementation of all the parts of the bill, within a three-month period

During the public signing of the bill, Ramaphosa made it clear that should the parties not find agreement before the deadline on Friday, 13 December, full implementation of the Act would proceed.

“Should the parties not be able to agree on an approach – I want to make this clear – then we will proceed with a full implementation of all the parts of the bill, within a three-month period,” Ramaphosa said

However, as Equal Education and the Equal Education Law Centre explain here, no section of the Bela Act has legally come into operation as the President has not yet proclaimed its commencement. The President’s “purported ‘suspension’ of sections 4 and 5 lacks legal basis – provisions that are not yet in effect cannot be suspended,” the organisations said.

Read more: Ramaphosa and the Bela Bill — the power of political surprise, but at what cost?

The Bela Act was passed in the National Assembly in May 2023, and seeks to dismantle the historical inequalities in the South African school system.

It responds to decisions by the Constitutional Court and high courts that sought to redress inequitable access to quality education owing to exclusionary language and admissions policies, in effect, adopted by school governing bodies (SGBs), Daily Maverick reported.

Sections 4 and 5 of the Act provide for SGBs to maintain control over language and admissions policies, subject to oversight from the provincial head of department, in accordance with the Constitution.

Organisations promoting equal access to education, such as the public interest law centre Section 27, support the Bela Act and argue that the clauses are not about diluting the power of SGBs, but about using departmental oversight to eradicate discrimination in the education system and ensure more inclusivity.

The DA and organisations including the Solidary Movement, AfriForum and SA Onderwysersunie (South African Teachers Union) objected to these clauses. They argued that they will reduce the authority of SGBs and centralise decision-making power.

They have previously threatened to go to court over sections 4 and 5 of the Act.

Following Ramaphosa’s signing of the bill, the DA said it had instructed its lawyers to prepare for court action on both the process leading to the adoption of the Bela Act, as well as its substance, on constitutional grounds.

The DA was asked for clarification on its position on taking legal action on Thursday but Daily Maverick had not received a response by the time of publication.

Read more: Bela Bill will immediately be taken to court if signed into law, says powerful lobby group

Last week, it emerged that Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube had reached an agreement with Solidarity at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) on the two contentious clauses. This was after Solidarity lodged a dispute on 1 October and sought authorisation for a protected protest against the two sections of the Act.

According to the Nedlac agreement, sections 4 and 5 should be phased in, subject to the successful implementation of Gwarube’s proposed recommendations to Ramaphosa, Daily Maverick’s Takudzwa Pongweni reported.

However, Gwarube said the agreement with Solidarity did not “in any way serve as a substitute for the consultations that are currently under way” on the Act between GNU partners in the clearing house.

The agreement sparked backlash from Ramaphosa and Mashatile, who rebuked Gwarube publicly.

“The agreement between the Minister and Solidarity has no bearing – in law or practical effect – on the inclusive multiparty discussions that are underway on sections 4 and 5 of the Act,” Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said in a statement on 1 December.

The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) has also expressed opposition to the bilateral agreement, condemning it as “anti-transformation” and accusing Gwarube of aligning with groups seeking to reverse educational reforms aimed at addressing historical inequalities.

On Monday, Sadtu threatened to take legal action against Ramaphosa if he failed to implement the disputed sections of the Bela Act “by or no later than” Friday.

“If the President does not comply the union will take legal action and embark on industrial action,” it said in a statement.

The union said it believed Ramaphosa’s decision to postpone the implementation of sections 4 and 5 of the Act was “purely for political expediency” based on the objections of Gwarube and the DA. DM

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