The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) has condemned Afrikaner interest lobby group AfriForum and the DA for opposing the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act.
According to the so-called young lions, the stance employed by AfriForum and company was testament that they still reminisce about the old and dark apartheid times.
This comes after AfriForum this week, joined by like-minded formations such as the DA, marched against the BELA. The act was signed into law by president Cyril Ramaphosa recently.
Threat to autonomy of SGBs
AfriForum argues that the law will interfere with the independence and autonomy of school governing bodies (SGBs).
The NGO is also adamant that the law will discriminate against Afrikaner kids privilege to study in their mother tongue.
But the ANCYL insists that the BELA is only meant to transform the education system and level the playing field.
AfriForum and those that support its opposition to the BELA are hellbent of maintaining the skewed patterns of learning birthed by colonialism and apartheid in RSA. This according to the Youth League.
“Certain groups, including AfriForum, the Democratic Alliance (DA), Freedom Front Plus, Solidarity, and others, have aligned themselves in staunch opposition to this progressive bill,” said the League in a statement.
“Masking their resistance with calls for ‘community rights’ or ‘educational
autonomy,’ these groups reveal their true intentions of upholding a legacy of inequality within South African schools.
Nothing but ruse to uphold legacy of inequality
“They wish to maintain the status quo that privileges specific communities. [It does so] at the expense of national unity and the vision of a transformed South Africa.
“The ANCYL condemns these entities for their regressive stance. This… undermines the developmental goals of our educational system and the aspirations of millions of South
Africans. Who seek an inclusive and just society,” the statement went on.
“This opposition reflects a refusal to let go of exclusionary practices. Ones… that perpetuate division and reinforce a status quo that serves only a few.”
AfriForum and the DA have been putting on the pressure for BELA not to pass.
They scored a partial victory when Ramaphosa signed BELA into law but suspended its much contested sections.
Lesufi actively supporting bill, DA’s Gwarube defiant
At the signing, the DA’s minister of basic education Siviwe Gwarube boycotted the signing. This gesture was to demonstrate her party’s protestation against BELA.
On the opposite side within the ANC, Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi has emerged as the biggest advocate for BELA. He has been at pains publicly lobbying against AfriForum and DA stance.
It is unknown what Ramaphosa will do about the suspended sections of the bill. There’s only two options available: to reject AfriForum and company or succumb to their pressure.
