AfriForum wants DA and FF Plus to reconsider GNU if Bela bill unchanged

Kallie Kriel says activists in government are disrespecting Ramaphosa's decision to delay the two clauses

03 October 2024 - 18:43
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AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel.
AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel.
Image: Deaan Vivier/Gallo Images

AfriForum has asked the DA and FF Plus to reconsider their participation in the GNU should President Cyril Ramaphosa implement the two controversial clauses in the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) bill.

In September, Ramaphosa signed the Bela bill into law but postponed the implementation of clauses 4 and 5, which deal with school admissions and language, by three months to allow further discussions after the DA opposed it.

Ramaphosa said if no solution was found within three months, the bill would be implemented fully.

AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel believes there is a group of activists in government who are disrespecting Ramaphosa's decision to delay the two clauses.

“This group is openly out to derail constructive discussions, steamroll the implementation of the Bela Act in its current format, and try to make any co-operation within the GNU impossible,” Kriel said.

“Hannah Arendt said that one does not have the right to obey injustice. Likewise, parties like the DA and the FF Plus do not have the right to participate in the injustice that will be perpetrated against Afrikaans children and schools by the Bela Act in its current format.”

Kriel argued that the implementation of the two clauses would compromise the survival of Afrikaans community schools.

“Afrikaans speakers do not, like other cultural groups in the country, have large traditional areas in which their cultures are promoted; therefore, Afrikaans schools play a central role in the survival of the respective Afrikaans cultural communities across the country. Precisely because of this, the fight against Bela is not just a fight against another law, but it is a fight for cultural survival.”

According to Kriel, AfriForum's concern about the current discussion process on the Bela bill was Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi and his MEC for education, Matome Chiloane.

“This disdain for further discussion is also shared by a number of senior officials in the national department of education. This was clear during a meeting where an official acted very aggressively towards AfriForum, Solidarity and Saai's delegates and even indicated that the implementation of Bela was a foregone conclusion,” he said.

AfriForum has launched a petition against the bill and claims it had more than 200,000 signatures.

“AfriForum, Solidarity, and numerous other role players are also planning several other protest actions against the Bela law, which will be announced later.”

The DA has threatened to fight the bill in court and called on Ramaphosa to reverse the bill, as they say it's unconstitutional. 

TimesLIVE


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