GEORGE NEWS - Thirty minutes into the public hearing on the Bela Bill (Basic Education Laws Amendment) last Wednesday, 28 February, a queue of people snaked from the George Civic Centre entrance right through to the pavement in York Street, waiting to join the meeting.
Public consultation sessions are currently being held nationwide as part of the National Council of Provinces' decision-making process on the bill. Sessions were also held in Plettenberg Bay and Mossel Bay.
The Bela Bill is aimed at amending the South African Schools Act of 1996 and the Employment of Educators Act of 1998. The idea is to align them with the developments in education. However, the bill is strongly opposed by the Western Cape Government. Minister of Education David Maynier said the clauses on admissions and language policy in particular are irrational and unconstitutional.
Over 1 000 people
Residents of George came in their numbers to voice their concerns over this highly controversial bill. Member of the Provincial Parliament Gerrit Pretorius, who served on the panel of delegates from the Western Cape Government, said more than 1 000 people gathered for the public hearing in George last week.
The meeting was chaired by Adv Deidre Baartman, chairperson of the Standing Committee on Education in the Western Cape Parliament.
Pretorius said the great number of people at the meeting confirms that the public is becoming increasingly involved in helping to determine policy on entities that directly affect them. "It is believed that this will also be confirmed on 29 May during the national and provincial elections," said Pretorius. "It is absolutely welcomed. This is what public hearings are all about. We hope to see the same trend at budget meetings."
Loud and clear
George Speaker Sean Snyman took the floor along with several other individuals, delivering comment on certain clauses of the Bela Bill. Snyman said it is important to note that our children are assets, and not the property of National Government.
"The Bela Bill is an atrocity. The only thing that one hears is all the power the minister has. The government does not have the funding, first of all, and there are so many things that have not been thought out properly. It is an epitome of exactly how this country is being run at the moment."
More than 1 000 people gathered for the public hearing in George last Wednesday, 28 February. Photos: Michelle Pienaar
Representatives of AfriForum's branches in the Southern Cape made their voices heard, saying the bill could cause irreparably damage in the quality of education, and even home schooling.
Jana Naude, chairperson of AfriForum Youth's George branch, said although some of the provisions contained in the bill are practical updates of the existing laws, there are also new and dangerous provisions that can seriously harm Afrikaans mother tongue education and even home education. "Our young people need to understand how important it is to oppose this bill, because it is our children who will be left at the mercy of these laws in a few years," said Naude.
Kemp Myburg, vice-chairperson of AfriForum's George branch, said the bill falls far short of addressing the many inherent challenges facing the modern education system. "The government pretends that these amendments are necessary to protect schools from incompetent governing bodies, but the current law contains the necessary provisions that can ensure that these governing bodies can be replaced. If this does not happen in practice, it is because the Provincial Department of Education is unwilling or unable to do so, and not because the current law does not allow it."
Status quo
The Bela Bill is currently at the National Council of Provinces. "Each province has to say whether they approve the bill or not, and then the nine provinces need to reach consensus - whether it needs to be referred back to the department, or whether the bill can go through to the President to undersign and be implemented," said Alana Bailey, AfriForum's head of cultural affairs.
Submit written submissions to Wasiema Hassen-Moosa, Procedural Officer, by email (wasiema.hassenmoosa@wcpp.gov.za) or as voice notes and messages on WhatsApp (060 250 6165). Alternatively, you can also submit input via the online submission form at https://forms.office.com/r/hKVpkPGbbY. Written submissions must reach the Standing Committee on Education before or on Thursday 4 April.
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