ANC partners surprised by clause delays in BELA Bill

By Simon Nare

The ANC’s tripartite alliance partners are taken aback by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to delay two clauses of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill despite signing it into law on Friday.

Cosatu in a statement said it was caught off guard by Ramaphosa’s decision to delay the clauses given that he had come out on Wednesday stating that he would sign the Bill into law despite legal threats from some political parties.

“This is an about turn that Cosatu could not have foreseen,” the federation said in a statement after the signing of the Bill into law.

However, it said it appreciated that the president had set a time limit of three months during which parties could engage further on the two clauses that pertained to school admissions and language policy. 

“He made it clear that he did not expect the deliberations to be open-ended but wanted them finalised in three months.  It is critical that any further proposals enhance the progressive objectives and clauses of the BELA Act.  We would not countenance