The way in which the proposed Bela bill will play out in the next three months will give us a strong indication of whether or not the Government of National Unity can work.
It is exactly seven years since former minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga announced the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Bill. The signing of the bill was delayed for a long time due to the opposition to two clauses — one focusing on admissions and the other on language.
Although President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the bill on 13 September 2024, the focus has moved to the two unsigned clauses because the president decided to wait for a window period of three months to allow Government of National Unity (GNU) partners to collaborate in search of a solution.
The president expressed his confidence that the GNU partners would find each other, but he emphasised that should no solution be found in the next three months (until 13 December 2024), he would sign and implement the bill in its entire form. This puts great pressure on the GNU partners.
What is the purpose of Bela?
The Bela Bill makes a number of changes to the South African Schools Act (Act 84 of 1996) that will make the education landscape more streamlined. It includes, among others:
- Grade R becomes compulsory. Currently poverty-stricken parents cannot afford to send their 6-year-old children to Grade R. According to teachers in the foundation phase it takes them a year to get youngsters ready for school before they can start with the Grade 1 curriculum. This partly explains why our children suffer from poor literacy and writing abilities. Compulsory Grade R tuition would level the playing field as the onus would move to the government to fund Grade R.
- The Bela Bill includes strict fines for parents who fail to send their children to school, with the possibility of a prison sentence.
- The Bela Bill institutes strict action against misbehaviour by learners and gives schools the right to expel offenders immediately. Everyone who has been a principal or teacher knows the frustration when a child first has to be sent home for five days before actual action can be taken. For many offenders it is a five-day holiday!
- The new bill institutes strict measures for parents who are homeschooling their children. This includes compulsory registration with the education department and independent assessment and tests before those qualifications are approved.
- All corporal punishment and initiation practices are forbidden in line with the Child Protection Act. Because my students are placed countrywide for teaching practice, I am aware that corporal punishment still takes place at many schools. Those teachers and schools can now be prosecuted.
Few people will argue about the above-mentioned changes to the Schools Act. It is in line with the verdict in the Rivonia Primary court case of 2013. In that case, the Constitutional Court’s decision came as a firm reminder that education authorities must ensure that the admission of learners is equitable and within the framework of the Constitution, and that learner admissions are lawful, reasonable, procedurally fair and are ultimately taken in the best interests of learners.
The judge encouraged school communities to work together in good faith in a process of mutual trust and respect. Clearly it was not enough. South Africans have lost faith in the ANC government.
What does the debate entail?
The two clauses that have fuelled the debate are clauses 4 and 5. Afrikaans schools especially are upset because the Bela Bill gives provincial heads of education control over the school’s language and admission policy.
The government contends that these two clauses led to great controversy in the past because learners, even children living within the school’s catchment area, were refused admission. In some cases, this has led to court cases (see the Rivonia case above). According to the government the Bela Bill will ensure equality. Also, schools will no longer be able to use language to discriminate against children.
Those who are opposed to these two clauses argue that school governing bodies will be stripped of their decision-making powers on two policies that are critically important for the future of the school. By moving the final authority from the school governing bodies to provincial heads of education, it gives the power to the state to change language policy.
The feeling is that this undermines schools’ right to mother tongue education.
This has led to strong statements from the country’s two biggest unions. Solidarity is of the opinion that the bill will force schools to accept additional languages of tuition, and sees this bill as a calculated attack on Afrikaans schools.
On the other hand, Cosatu has asked that the bill be approved and implemented as a whole. What further complicates the matter is that the new DA Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, had already made up her mind when she boycotted the signing of the bill, clashing head-on with the president. Unless a solution is found, the battle order has been drawn up for a fight that threatens to get out of hand.
Mother-tongue instruction and the Constitution
At the heart of the argument is the matter of mother-tongue instruction. The Constitution guarantees each child the right to be instructed in his or her mother tongue, but with this proviso: if it is reasonably practicable. The question is: What is reasonably practicable?
When I was a circuit manager, we were instructed that a school was not full for a child who lives in the same street as the school. But is it reasonably practicable to expect that the school must appoint six English-speaking teachers to accommodate one child? Or is it reasonable to expect that poor parents must pay R30 every day and R150 per week or R600 per month (a trip with a taxi costs R15) because the child has been referred to an English school located 10km further away? The government has been quiet on this until now.
In addition, education experts agree that compulsory Grade R tuition has been long overdue, but the government has not indicated where the Grade R teachers will come from. Grade R requires specially trained teachers with classrooms specially adapted for this purpose.
We also have to ask the important question: who will pay them, given the prospect that thousands of teachers will be retrenched?
Independent ombud
This brings me to the intended negotiations. Now is the time to retain cool heads and think of the bigger picture. But all I hear are demands and threats (from both sides) that do not create a conducive climate for fruitful negotiations.
I have tried to summarise the different viewpoints above, and it is clear that both sides have a strong case. In such negotiations, all parties realise that success will depend on the extent to which both parties are prepared to make concessions. This is a process of give and take.
Given the mistrust and suspicion that already exists, it is important that these discussions take place in a safe space so that each person can state their views freely with the assurance that everyone will be heard. Therefore, no one can be both player and referee. The leader of the discussion must be independent. Someone like a retired judge or education expert. Someone like Professor Mary Metcalfe.
The independence does not stop here. For the sake of fairness neither the government nor the governing body should have the final say on a school’s language policy in the case of a dispute. I suggest an independent ombud or even that a committee with an independent view should look at cases where parents of schools may declare a dispute.
In this process, the role of the media is of critical importance. Irresponsible reporting can sink the conversation even before it starts. It is not so much what you say, but how it is said, and it can be decisive for the successful course of the negotiations.
1976
The Bela Bill is one of the most controversial items of education legislation in South African history. The only other case that was as controversial was also linked to Afrikaans. I refer to the legislation that forced black learners during apartheid to learn in Afrikaans, the language of the government of the time (but not the mother tongue of most black people), and we know how that chapter of our history ended.
Ironically the shoe is now on the other foot: Afrikaans is in the middle again: this time it is the reason why these two clauses cannot be signed off.
We now have the opportunity to be the architects of our own future. That is why it is in everyone’s interest that all the role players meet speedily and find a solution to the dead end in which we find ourselves. South Africa cannot afford a repeat of 1976. Just as we cannot afford for the GNU to fail.
The Bela Bill is the first real test for the GNU. If the GNU passes this test, the future looks rosier and we can move closer to a united South Africa. DM