Red flags still raised about controversial BELA Act

The deadline for public comment on the new Basic Education Laws Amendment Act (BELA) has been extended from 5 September, to 5 October.

Some groups have welcomed the extra time as they remain skeptical about the implementation of the new policies. 

Others argue that the Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, is dragging her feet when it comes to bringing the act into law.

The minister said that BELA is “fully implementable and being implemented” in February 2025, but following mixed reactions to the legislation, a lengthy public consultation process continues.

The BELA bill has been in the works since 2017, initiated to amend the South African Schools Act and the Employment Educators Act. After much deliberation, it was passed by the National Assembly in May 2024.

President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the act into law in September 2024, but postponed the implementation of two highly contested sections of the bill, sections 4 and 5.

The sections focus on admissions and language policies, making Grade R compulsory, giving the government more control over admissions and over a school’s language of instruction.

Some argue that South African public schools don’t have the resources or funding to support an extra grade, and others are concerned that the language policies threaten mother-tongue education, particularly in Afrikaans schools.

Ramaphosa, however, signed the bill into law in its totality, including the disputed sections, in December 2024.

Despite this, only two sections of the act have been made available for public comment, which is a serious concern for the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Education.

The committee has also raised concerns about school capacity and teacher shortages, which would make admitting more children and enforcing Grade R in public schools difficult. 

Committee chairperson on education, Lencel Komane, said he has noticed the number of children is growing, but the number of schools is not. 

The parliament committee raised questions on the dilapidated state of school infrastructure, particularly in rural provinces, and the growing teaching vacancies across the country. 

The minister attributed this to budget cuts in the education department and said the department is appealing to the government for more funding and is reconfiguring its employment budget. 

The Department of Basic Education’s Evolution of SA’s Basic Education Landscape report revealed that a decline in infrastructure spending began in 2017, with budget constraints caused by slow economic growth. 

Civil Society Movement, Equal Education, accused Minister Gwarube of failing to understand the reality of public schools, after she recently said 90% of them are in an improved condition. 

“Some classrooms haven’t been renovated since 2008,” said Equal Education spokesperson Ayanda Sishi Wigzell. She added that there is an infrastructure backlog requiring R129 billion.

This would just cover the eradication of unsafe pit latrines, the replacement of dilapidated infrastructure and essential services like water and electricity.

While Gwarube is a DA minister, the Democratic Alliance has not been supportive of the BELA act, with leader John Steenhuisen saying that it gives the state too much control over the education system.

Delmaine Christians, DA Spokesperson on Basic Education, is similarly concerned that not all provinces are ready to implement the new regulations. 

“The DA has consistently raised concerns about the governance, capacity, and performance in provinces like the Northern Cape, Limpopo, and the Eastern Cape,” she said.

“Underperformance is systemic and support mechanisms remain weak. The real work lies in ensuring that these regulations do not become paper promises but translate into meaningful change at school level.”

Some critics, such as the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU), have accused Gwarube of delaying the act on purpose.

SADTU told Newsday that it will be submitting a comment on the act before the upcoming deadline.

The trade union has been critical of the minister’s process, arguing that she is fulfilling the DA’s political agenda by deliberately stalling full implementation.

They added that she does not have the power to issue implementation guidelines for the new regulations.

“SADTU viewed the issuing of guidelines as an attempt to sow confusion, delay the implementation of the Act and advance the DA’s political agenda against full implementation,” the union said. 

The controversial language policy

The subject of much controversy, the act also allows the Head of Department to direct a public school to adopt more than one language of instruction to accommodate all children in the school’s area.

If instructed to do so, the department must take all necessary steps to ensure the school has the resources to provide an additional language of instruction. 

Vryheid Front Plus and civil rights group Afriforum raised concerns about this and other aspects of the act, with the latter starting a “Stop BELA” petition.

The group argued that the act targets Afrikaans language schools by giving governing bodies the final decision on the language of instruction. 

Head of Cultural Affairs at Afriforum, Alana Bailey told Newsday that the group plans to submit comments on the act before the upcoming deadline. 

“We are still waiting for the regulations pertaining to the language policy of schools to be published. In our opinion, however, some aspects are still not clear enough,” she said. 

This is, however, not the only part of the act that Afriforum will seek clarity on. Bailey added that Afriforum is concerned about the lack of schools creating pressure on some schools in Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

“Accomodating ever-increasing numbers of learners impacts negatively on quality education and jeopardises the future of all mother-language education in South Africa,” she said. 

She added that Afriforum is concerned that South Africa does not have the adequate facilities or adequately trained staff to provide Grade R education. 

Bailey said Afriforum will be submitting comments on both the regulations on admission and capacity, which it will finalise by the deadline. 

Associated trade union, Solidarity, will likely submit commentary on the act as well, though Bailey could not confirm this.