BELA Bill: While signed into law, implementation of 2 clauses delayed for 3 months

PRETORIA - Despite signing the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill into law, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that he would delay the implementation of two clauses contained in it for three months.

On Friday, Ramaphosa hosted an official signing ceremony at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

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The president said clauses four and five would not be automatically implemented.

Clause four of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act says the provincial department will be responsible for the admitting of pupils into a public school, taking that power away from school governing bodies (SGBs).

Clause five, on the other hand, moves the power of determining a school’s language policy from the SGB to the provincial department.

Ramaphosa said the three months would be a consultation window to discuss and possibly amend these clauses.

"This will give the parties time to deliberate on these issues and make proposals on how the different views may be accommodated. Should the parties not be able to agree, I want to make this clear, on an approach then we will proceed with the full implementation of all the parts of the bill."

Ramaphosa said an implementation date on the two clauses would be announced following the consultation process.