DA claims BELA Bill is ‘school capture’ by ANC
The DA marched to the offices of Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi in Johannesburg on Tuesday to voice its opposition to the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill.
The party claims the so-called BELA Bill is an attack on mother tongue education.
The BELA Bill proposes several changes to the South African Schools Act, including the transfer of control to the education department in determining a school's language policy, and curriculums.
It also wants to prohibit corporal punishment and initiation practices.
DA federal council chair Helen Zille told supporters the ANC wants to take control of the few well-functioning schools and “break them”.
"ANC wants to get a car going, it's got one flat tyre. Instead of fixing the one flat tyre, they let down the other three so that they are all the same, they all broken.
“This is exactly what the ANC is trying to do to our schools. To take the few remaining schools that are working and break them too.”
She described the bill as an attack on mother tongue education
"They are saying that the governing bodies will no longer having the right to determine languages policy, and they will no longer have the right to determine admissions policy. That right will be for the head of education, and we all know that it means school capture," she added.
Lesufi laughed off suggestions that a hatred of Afrikaans is the main driving force behind the BELA Bill.
"Our hatred for racism must not be interpreted to hatred of Afrikaans. We do not hate Afrikaans, we do not hate that language.
“We said there are people that are using that language as a scapegoat, Lesufi hates apartheid, Lesufi hates Afrikaans, Lesufi hates you. I do not hate people that's why I called for non-racialism."
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