The ongoing deadlock between the DA and ANC over the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill highlights the alarming dysfunction of South Africa’s coalition government.
If these two parties cannot agree on critical legislative matters, South Africans will continue to bear the brunt of policy paralysis—fuelling unemployment, economic stagnation, and the collapse of basic service delivery.
Today marks the deadline for parties within the government of national unity to resolve their impasse over clauses 4 and 5 of the BELA Act. These clauses concern the authority to determine school language policies and the procedures governing school admissions.
However, the DA and ANC have issued conflicting statements on how to proceed, reflecting the absence of a coherent and unified approach. Ministers who sit in the same Cabinet seem to be working at cross purposes, engaging in political manoeuvring rather than addressing the pressing needs of South Africa’s education system.
While the President has granted a brief three-month consultation period for stakeholders to provide input on these clauses, ActionSA views this as little more than window dressing. It does not reflect a serious commitment to addressing the dire state of South Africa’s education system, which was underscored yet again this month when South African children ranked last in mathematics and science among 54 countries in an international study.
Although the BELA Act’s stated objectives may appear noble, its contents reveal a troubling centralisation of power. If enacted, the Bill would grant the Basic Education Minister sweeping authority to dictate school language policies, undermining the role of School Governing Bodies (SGBs) and stripping parents of critical decision-making rights, including their choice to homeschool their children.
This deadlock over the BELA Act is emblematic of the broader failures of coalition governance, where political turf wars trump the urgent need for effective policies. ActionSA believes South Africa cannot afford further delays in addressing the root causes of the education crisis, which jeopardises the future of millions of learners and the country’s development as a whole.
ActionSA remains committed to advocating for practical, inclusive, and community-driven solutions to fix South Africa’s broken education system and to restore hope for a brighter future.
DA-ANC Deadlock Over BELA Bill Exposes Fault Lines in Coalition Governance
The ongoing deadlock between the DA and ANC over the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill highlights the alarming dysfunction of South Africa’s coalition government.
If these two parties cannot agree on critical legislative matters, South Africans will continue to bear the brunt of policy paralysis—fuelling unemployment, economic stagnation, and the collapse of basic service delivery.
Today marks the deadline for parties within the government of national unity to resolve their impasse over clauses 4 and 5 of the BELA Act. These clauses concern the authority to determine school language policies and the procedures governing school admissions.
However, the DA and ANC have issued conflicting statements on how to proceed, reflecting the absence of a coherent and unified approach. Ministers who sit in the same Cabinet seem to be working at cross purposes, engaging in political manoeuvring rather than addressing the pressing needs of South Africa’s education system.
While the President has granted a brief three-month consultation period for stakeholders to provide input on these clauses, ActionSA views this as little more than window dressing. It does not reflect a serious commitment to addressing the dire state of South Africa’s education system, which was underscored yet again this month when South African children ranked last in mathematics and science among 54 countries in an international study.
Although the BELA Act’s stated objectives may appear noble, its contents reveal a troubling centralisation of power. If enacted, the Bill would grant the Basic Education Minister sweeping authority to dictate school language policies, undermining the role of School Governing Bodies (SGBs) and stripping parents of critical decision-making rights, including their choice to homeschool their children.
This deadlock over the BELA Act is emblematic of the broader failures of coalition governance, where political turf wars trump the urgent need for effective policies. ActionSA believes South Africa cannot afford further delays in addressing the root causes of the education crisis, which jeopardises the future of millions of learners and the country’s development as a whole.
ActionSA remains committed to advocating for practical, inclusive, and community-driven solutions to fix South Africa’s broken education system and to restore hope for a brighter future.