President Cyril Ramaphosa has opened a three-month consultation period on two clauses of the Basic Education Amendment Bill dealing with school enrolment and language policy. (Dwayne Senior/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Democratic Alliance has rejected President Cyril Ramaphosa's proposal for a three-month consultation period on the provisions of the Basic Education Act Amendment (Bera) Bill, saying the DA would proceed with litigation over the adoption of the bill.
“The D-N.D. Party has instructed our lawyers to continue preparing litigation on both the process that led to the adoption of Vera's Bill and its substance on constitutional grounds,” D-N.D. Leader John Steenhausen said following the president's announcement.
President Ramaphosa signed Vera's Bill into law on Friday but said he would delay the implementation of two clauses, clauses four and five, for three months to allow for negotiations with parties in his Government of National Unity (GNU), who have rejected the bill's contents.
President Ramaphosa's move is an attempt to create breathing space for both himself and the DA over the bill, which Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwalbe boycotted for signing.
On Thursday, Presidents Ramaphosa and Steenhausen publicly allayed concerns that tensions over the bill could tear the GNU apart ahead of the bill's signing, and the president's opening up a window for negotiations in his signing speech signaled his intention to give the two parties an opportunity to gauge each other's positions over the next three months.
But in a statement responding to the president's announcement, Steenhausen said the district attorney will now pursue legal action and seek to have the bill declared unconstitutional.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, President Ramaphosa said he had decided to use his powers as president to open a “window” for negotiations on the two clauses after receiving approaches from various political parties shortly before the deal was to be signed.
He did not agree to halt the signing as they demanded, but struck a compromise to try to find a solution to the impasse over the bill.
“This will give political parties time to deliberate on these issues and make proposals on how to reconcile their differing views,” President Ramaphosa said.
“If the parties cannot agree on an approach, we will move forward with implementing those parts of the bill,” he said.
But Steenhausen rejected this, calling it a “threat” and saying the approach was “contrary to the spirit of the statement of intent that formed the basis of GNU, which called for participating groups to reach “full agreement on conflicting issues.”
He also accused the ANC of “violating the constitutional rights of parents and governing boards of functional schools”.
The Vera Bill proposes to increase oversight of school governing bodies.
Hours before the ceremony, Gwalbe released a statement saying he had written to President Ramaphosa that he would not be able to attend the ceremony until his concerns about the bill were addressed.
Gwalbe said he has always opposed the current bill and will continue to do so and has called on President Ramaphosa to return the bill to Parliament for review in terms of section 79 of the Constitution.
This is happening despite the fact that she is the Minister expected to ensure the Bill is implemented in schools.
But she also previously said she would dutifully carry out her duties as minister if the bill became law and would swiftly implement “aspects” of the bill.
“This bill is the brainchild of my ministry and once the President signs it, we will proceed with the business of governing and implementing the bill,” Gwalbe said earlier. Mail & Guardian .
The Bill, introduced by former Education Minister Angie Motsega, seeks to amend the South African Schools Act 1996 and the Employment of Educators Act 1998.
Section 4 of Vera's Bill gives authority over admissions policies to the Ministry of Education rather than to schools, and also requires schools to enroll and educate children who may not have the necessary documentation.
Section 5 provides that school boards must submit public school language policies and any amendments thereto to the state department head for approval.
Advocacy group Section 27 hailed the provisions as “progressive changes to school law”, adding that learners' right to an education should not be denied on the basis of their citizenship status.
Steenhausen said the president had postponed the implementation date but had also said the bill would come into force three months later if no agreement was reached on the two clauses.
“This means that if no agreement is reached, the ANC will go ahead with implementing the clause giving provincial governments the power to override school boards on matters of school language policy,” Steenhausen said. “The DA rejects this threat from the president.”
Steenhausen said this approach goes against the spirit of the Statement of Intent signed between the GNU partners, which calls for reaching full agreement on issues of contention.
Grade R would also be made mandatory under this bill.
It also proposes measures to prevent unnecessary disruption of schooling due to protests or other causes, making such actions a criminal offence, and would introduce penalties for parents who keep their children out of school for extended periods.
The bill also addresses aspects of homeschooling, requiring parents to register their children with the Department of Education and specify the curriculum to be used. It also mandates independent evaluation to monitor children's progress.
It also expands the definition of corporal punishment to include “any act which is intended to denigrate, humiliate, intimidate, induce fear or ridicule the dignity or personality of a learner.”