Zille on BELA Bill: ‘The ANC hates excellence’
The DA has accused the ANC of trying to destroy the capacity of outstanding schools by imposing the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill.
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 policies and curriculums.
The party's federal council chairperson, Helen Zille, on Thursday said the governing party would reject any initiative that aims to make schools better.
Zille spoke at a DA protest ahead of the tabling of the bill in the National Assembly on Thursday.
"South Africans will not tolerate the destruction of education in the way that the ANC has destroyed every single thing it touches,” Zille said.
“The ANC wants to strip the powers of school governing bodies because it wants to destroy everything it cannot control. We can only come to the conclusion after 30 years of ANC rule, and that is, the ANC hates excellence and destroys everything it touches".
“The ANC is opposed to any entity that brings excellence into the system. There were many schools that were excellent, and there are still a lot that are excellent. Five South African schools were recognised as being world-leading schools, three were state schools in the Western Cape, and one was a private school in Gauteng".
"When you look at the BELA Bill, you can clearly see what the ANC is trying to do. You see what the ANC is doing, is trying to destroy the schools' capacity to continue to be outstanding.”
Zille claims the ANC wants the education policy to serve its trade union partner, SADTU.
"We believe that the education policy must serve the children who have to get skills and become employable. Today, we will stand for mother-tongue education," said Zille.
ALSO READ:
