Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube says it is all systems go with the implementation of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act, commonly known as the BELA Act.

The announcement comes amid the ongoing consultation process on two clauses of the legislation.

Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the BELA Bill into law, however, he decided to delay the implementation of the two provisions dealing with admission and language, pending the outcome of the consultation process over three months.

Gwarube says it is her constitutional responsibility to implement and promulgate the necessary regulations for the commencement of the enforcement of the act.

“The Bela Act as it stands, is essentially ready for implementation with the exception of clauses four and five. So, as the department we have already started the process of implementing the Bela Act because it of course has been signed into law. In fact, we have started to engage provinces to essentially roll out work workshops that the department has started to roll out so that the provinces are ready and are on time to be able to implement provisions of the Bela Act, of course with the exception of clauses four and five.”

Opposition to the Act

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Parliament has described the announcement for the implementation of the BELA Act as an upsetting undertaking.

DA spokesperson, Willie Aucamp, has told the SABC News that the move to go ahead in implementing the Act goes against the spirit of the Government of National Unity.

“Now this is not only contrary to the spirit of the gnu. It is also against the time frame that the president has set for those clauses to be implemented. When the president signed the BELA Bill into law, he said that Clauses 4 and 5 would not be implemented and that there would be a three-month period where consultation must take place between all the parties. And it is really, very upsetting if the premier as well as ANC members on the committee now all of a sudden want to just show their total disregard for that process. The democratic alliance has always been opposed to Clauses 4 and 5 of the BELA Act.”

The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) says if the government goes ahead with the implementation of the act, the piece of legislation is set to be challenged in the courts.

ACDP Chief Whip Steve Swart has warned that the constitutionality of the act ought to be taken to the courts.

“ The ACDP takes note with concern that the Minister of Basic Education intends to implement the provisions of the Bela Act except sections four and five relating to the powers of school governing bodies and mother tongue language education. The ACDP was at the forefront of opposition to the BELA Act in the sixth Parliament where robustly contested clauses relating to home-schooling, learner pregnancy and abortion, the closing of rural schools, criminalising parents and limiting the powers of school governing bodies. The constitutionality of these conditions will now have to be decided by the constitutional court.”

Cosatu supports implementation 

Meanwhile, labour federation, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has joined the support for the implementation of the Act. Cosatu says it is satisfied that Gwarube will fast-track the enforcement of the piece of legislation, despite the ongoing consultation process on two clauses.

“Cosatu welcomes the announcement this week by the Minister of Basic Education to begin the implementation of the Basic Laws Amendment Act. But we need clear times with regard to the implementation because this is a quite significant overhaul and transformation of our basic education system. Cosatu supported the BELA Act because it addresses many burdening issues. For example, it includes grade R as the form school curriculum. So that requires resources, it requires the provision of teachers in classrooms, including the academic curriculum and so forth as a foundation for the success of learners from grade one, upwards,” says Cosatu Parliamentary Co-ordinator Matthew Parks.