Gwarube’s Nedlac Bela Act deal moot while consultations continue, insist Ramaphosa, Mashatile

The heated debate over the two contentious clauses in the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act has taken a new turn following Solidarity’s announcement of an agreement with Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube.

On 27 November, Gwarube and the Solidarity Movement reached a settlement at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) after the movement lodged a dispute on 1 October and sought authorisation for a protected protest to express opposition to the two sections of the Act.

Clause 4 of the Act provides for a provincial head of education to override a school’s language policy – that authority currently lies with school governing bodies (SGBs). Clause 5 provides for the provincial education department heads to control admission policies.

These clauses prompted objections from numerous organisations, including the DA, AfriForum, and Trust for Afrikaans Education (Trust vir Afrikaans Onderwys), among others. During the public signing on 13 September, President Cyril Ramaphosa delayed the implementation of Sections 4(d) and (f) as well as 5(c) by three months to allow further discussions.

President Cyril Ramaphosa.( Photo: Siyabulela Duda GCIS)

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Agreement reached on disputed sections

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.

These recommendations include that the sections should not be implemented until specific national policies, regulations, and norms and standards are developed, and until regulations are in place requiring heads of provincial education departments to consider certain additional factors before exercising their authority under these sections.

These factors include:

• The interests of the community in the immediate vicinity of the public school;


• Any applicable feeder zones determined by the province;


• Any additional or existing plans by the relevant MEC and their department to establish new public schools in the education district where the school is located;


• The capacity of the public school.

Gwarube added a disclaimer that 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 Government of National Unity (GNU) partners in the Cabinet clearing house.

Solidarity issued a media statement announcing that, under the terms of the settlement, the controversial sections of the Bela Act would no longer be implemented on 13 December.

“The execution of the recommendations does not exclude the possibility that there may be a need for future legislative amendments to section 4 and/or 5 of the Bela Act. This will all form part of a process in which Gwarube will make comprehensive recommendations to Ramaphosa for his due consideration,” read the statement.

The movement also noted that the settlement did not affect the GNU process or any other processes involving the Bela Act.

“We have never stated that our agreement and our process supersedes any other process. Solidarity was and is fully within its rights to launch an application and declare a dispute with the government and the agreements are a product of that dispute,” said Werner Human, operational lead of the Solidarity Movement.

Nedlac agreement sparks tensions over educational equity

The SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) has expressed vehement 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.

“She has declared war on Sadtu and the African majority whose children are being discriminated by racist school governing bodies. She failed in respecting and promoting the Constitution of our country and she must therefore be ready for the real fight on the Bela Act,” read a statement from the union.

Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane called for a more inclusive and consultative approach to addressing the transformation challenges in education, ensuring that the interests of all South Africans were considered in shaping the future of the sector.

Read more: Bela Bill seeks to bring SA’s education system in line with Constitution, say civil society bodies

In a statement on 29 November, Chiloane argued that the bilateral agreement represented the minority, undermining the intentions set by the President. He expressed concern that the agreement to phase in sections was undemocratic and warned that it could lead to the isolation of certain public schools for the exclusive use of specific societal groups.

He asked why Gwarube consulted exclusively with one segment of society and also questioned the recommendation that heads of department must seek approval from school governing bodies (SGBs) before altering a school’s language policy or managing learner admissions.

“This approach will enable SGBs to block transformation efforts. It might also allow some single-medium schools to resist introducing additional languages, even when local demographics dictate inclusivity to accommodate learners residing in the same area,” he said.

Human said they had invited the Congress of South African Trade Unions and Sadtu to discuss these issues, but had received no response. He emphasised that the agreement went beyond specific provisions, aiming to improve the educational legal framework, including promoting mother-tongue education.

He noted that mother-tongue education was vital for quality learning in a diverse country like South Africa and criticised Sadtu for not prioritising its importance. Currently, Afrikaans single-medium schools make up less than 5% of all public schools. If Afrikaans is deemed exclusionary — a claim the Solidarity Movement disputes — then, by the same logic, the 85% of English-medium schools could also be seen as exclusionary.

“But they don’t have any issue with exclusionary English, and there are pupils in this country that must learn with their second or third language. Their focus should also be to try and better the circumstances in the schools where there’s no mother-tongue education and where the quality is lacking,” he said.

Bela before GNU clearing house

Deputy President Paul Mashatile has distanced himself and the GNU’s clearing-house mechanism from the recently reached agreement. Mashatile’s office issued a statement on Friday, revealing that it had learnt of the agreement on the disputed Act only through informal channels.

Deputy President Paul Mashatile. (Photo: Gallo Images / City Press / Tebogo Letsie)

His office then sent a letter to all GNU members, emphasising that the process in question was not the official procedure endorsed by the clearing house or the parties that signed the Statement of Intent.

Keith Khoza, Mashatile’s acting spokesperson, said Mashatile found it “disturbing” that a minister from a party involved in the clearing house process would participate in an unsanctioned parallel process.

Gwarube’s spokesperson, Lukhanyo Vangqa, stated that the basic education minister had participated at Nedlac through her duty to engage in democratic platforms when cited as a respondent, always acting in good faith. Human clarified that a Nedlac process could not compel the minister or President to act, emphasising that the agreement should be seen as complementary to ongoing processes.

Mashatile chairs the clearing-house mechanism which was established to resolve policy disagreements within the 10-member GNU.

Read more: Bela Bill controversy — the ANC/DA GNU dance is still being designed, but Ramaphosa leads

Khoza said the clearing house had been seized with the matter of Bela Act.

“To this end, the clearing house, which was established to resolve challenges that may arise on policy matters, has assembled a team of five people who have been working on recommendations and will submit them once finalised.

“Once the clearing house has considered them, the proposals will be tabled to the leaders of parties who are signatories of the statement of intent. A meeting of the clearing house will convene sometime this week,” he said.

Ramaphosa clarifies implementation

Ramaphosa has clarified that the recent agreement does not affect the ongoing discussions on sections 4 and 5 of the Bela Act or his constitutional authority to determine when its provisions take effect.

On 1 December, the President’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya emphasised that the agreement did not influence the President’s decision-making power regarding the Act’s commencement and reiterated Ramaphosa’s commitment to the three-month consultation period for sections 4 and 5, following his signing of the bill on 13 September 2024.

Magwenya said the Bela Act was now law and that Gwarube had to proceed with its implementation, excluding sections 4 and 5.

“The Minister of Basic Education must work towards its implementation, apart from sections 4 and 5. The next step is for the President to determine the date of commencement and for the necessary regulations to be finalised. This will be done without undue delay.

“The President is bound by the Constitution and the law and remains steadfast in ensuring transformation in the education sector for the benefit of present and future generations of learners,” he said.

Vangqa affirmed that Gwarube would continue implementing the Act in accordance with her constitutional responsibilities, and that she was drafting regulations, policies and standards to implement the signed sections of Bela and would do the same for sections 4 and 5 once the President concluded his consultations. DM