Mr James Ndlebe, Chief Director for Provincial Monitoring and Delivery Oversight, provided an update on the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill during the DG’s online engagements with DBE, provincial and district officials, as well as principals.

“The BELA Bill is making amendments to certain sections of the South African Schools Act (SASA) of 1986 and the Employment of Educators Act (EEA) of 1998 to respond to administrative challenges facing schools to continue the transformation agenda of our education system. At its core, the BELA Bill reflects South Africa's aspiration for a more inclusive, equitable and efficient basic education system, addressing key challenges that have, for years, hindered the progress of the education ecosystem,” he said.

Amongst the amendments, is a provision that Grade R will now be the new compulsory school-starting age and parents who fail to enrol their children will be formally penalised. The Bill further confirms that corporal punishment is no longer allowed and that those found guilty of such offences will be penalised. Home education children must be registered and parents are allowed a curriculum of their choice as long as it is internationally recognised and not inferior to the curriculum offered in public schools. 

Mr Ndlebe added that, “there's a common misconception that the Bill aims to erode the autonomy of School Governing Bodies (SGBs); however, the Bill aspires to harmonise the powers of the SGB with the directives of the relevant provincial Head of Department (HoD). Whilst the SGB is initially tasked with setting a school's language policy, the Bill emphasises that this authority is not unequivocal. It ascertains that such policies are adaptable, inclusive and congruent with the constitutional right to basic education. The Bill provides for intervention steps that the HoD should take when confronted with language or admission policy that is discriminatory without imposing his authority unlawfully. If these policies remain unchecked, transformation will not be achieved in schools and the mother tongue instruction that we are pursuing will never materialise. Children are still unable to access schools in their neighbourhood because they have been designated to serve a particular ethnic group”.

Before tabling, the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education held extensive public hearings in all nine provinces, received written submissions, and held public hearings at Parliament for interested parties and organisations to make further oral submissions. The National Assembly (NA) passed the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill on 26 October 2023, and referred the BELA Bill to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) for further processing. The DBE subsequently briefed the Select Committee on Education and Technology, Sport, Arts and Culture on 8 November 2023, during a clause by clause analysis of the B-Bill version of the Bill. Provincial online briefings have since been taking place and face-to-face community engagements have either been concluded or are currently underway across eight provinces. The Western Cape Provincial Parliament requested the extension of the timeline for the province’s negotiating mandates to be extended until the end of April 2024. After approval by the NCOP, the Bill will be signed into law by the President.