Ramaphosa avoids GNU split over education law

By Zukile Majova
Political Editor

In a stroke of genius, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the controversial  Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill into law without collapsing the government of national unity (GNU).

Ramaphosa said he had received objections to the bill but could not change his commitment to sign it or ignore the concerns from GNU partners.

“In the spirit of cooperation and meaningful engagement, I cannot say no to engagement even at this late hour,” he said.

“I have to say that if you believe these challenges could be resolved, I am going to sign the bill to give a clear message to the people of South Africa that we are proceeding with the transformation of our education system.

“However, as president, I am prepared to open a window for consultation for a limited period,” Ramaphosa said.

This means that the new law will be ready for implementation except for clauses 4 and 5, whose implementation will be delayed for three months.

Clause 4 allows a provincial head of education to override a school’s language policy – a power that lies with school governing bodies.

Clause 5 gives the provincial government authority to control admission policies.

The clauses could compel half-full Afrikaans schools to accept more black learners, forcing the schools to change their medium of instruction to English.

Various black schools have a problem of overcrowding, while some Afrikaans schools have space but use language to block access to black learners.

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube from the DA boycotted the bill’s signing into law but promised to implement the law once it was signed.

Pictured above: Ramaphosa signs on the dotted line.

Source: X