DA's opposition to BELA Act has nothing with protecting Afrikaans, says Gwarube

JOHANNESBURG - Democratic Alliance (DA) member and Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube says it is "shallow" and "lazy" to think her party’s opposition to the BELA Act is only to protect Afrikaans interests.

Gwarube was speaking at a media briefing at the DA’s regional headquarters in Johannesburg – where the party reflected on its 100 days in the Government of National Unity (GNU).

One of the biggest challenges of the GNU has been the signing into law of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill.

READ: Everything you need to know about the BELA Act

When President Cyril Ramaphosa signed BELA Bill into law, he delayed the implementation of two clauses for three months, to allow for further public participation.

These clauses speak to school admission and language policies.

Recently, a minority lobby group, Afriforum, asked the DA to leave the gnu if these clauses are not amended, saying they threaten the existence of Afrikaans schools.

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube says it’s important children are bi-lingual as research shows that improves literacy.

“We are not performing as well as we should when it comes to our literacy levels so we must do everything that we can to actually make sure that our children are able to read and read for meaning in any or some language. I think it's lazy and shallow to make the conversation solely about protecting one sector of society than thinking about the education sector as a whole.”

Gwarube says her relationship with the President remains “excellently professional” despite their differences on the BELA Act.