Ramaphosa’s pen brings the GNU’s first major hurdle – with more to come
President Cyril Ramaphosa has hosted an engagement with all the political leaders of parties that are signatories to the Government of National Unity (GNU) in a bid to find common ground on dealing with disputes.
Presidential Spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the dinner’s purpose was to provide an opportunity to review the GNU’s functioning thus far and discuss in detail the formulation of a dispute resolution mechanism.
This comes after statements by Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen on Wednesday (11 September) saying that the president’s intention to sign the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill into law on Friday would put the entire GNU at risk.
The DA have been fierce opponents of the bill—particularly provisions that give the ultimate power to approve admission and language policies of schools in South Africa to the government, at the expense of school governing bodies and communities.
Magwenya said that signing the bill into law is the president’s Constitutional responsibility.
According to the Constitutional Court case in Doctors for Life International v Speaker, Magwenya highlighted that the President cannot refuse to sign the Bill for political reasons.
The only ground upon which the President can refuse to sign the Bill is constitutional reservations.
Quoting Section 79(1) of the Constitution he said: “The President must either assent to and sign a Bill passed in terms of this Chapter or, if the President has reservations about the constitutionality of the Bill, refer it back to the National Assembly for reconsideration.”
“The President is not entirely surprised that there’s a dispute. The President anticipates there will be many other disputes in the course of the term.
“However, he expects that there is maturity and an ongoing commitment to the country, such that we find ways of resolving these disputes without having to threaten the stability and the sustainability of this GNU,” he said.
“All leaders of parties who are signatories to the GNU (will) have an opportunity to express their concerns, but more constructively, to look at the way forward and how these issues of disputes are resolved,” Magwenya said.
The presidential spokesperson said Ramaphosa remains satisfied with the work of the GNU and engagement would provide an opportunity for all party leaders to provide their own assessments and give feedback to the President.
Leaders will also be able to raise any issues of concern.
He added that the president is of the view that threats cannot be made to the stability of the GNU whenever there is a dispute.
Magwenya said it was disturbing that whenever there is a dispute, one will hear threats being made to the stability of the GNU.
“Such threats are not only directed to the president, they are directed to the stability of the country. There are threats directed at South Africans.
“The GNU must remain stable, must remain united, as it is called the GNU, for the benefit of the country. It is not there for the benefit of any individual political leader. It has been formulated for the benefit of all South Africans,” he said.
It is likely that parties to the GNU will hit several more hurdles on policy direction in the years ahead.
Of particular note is the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act, which was signed into law with standing constitutional concerns in tow.
While Ramaphosa has previously expressed a desire to bring consensus among the disparate views on the laws from political parties and the business sector, the health ministry has opted for an offensive against NHI critics and the media.
The DA had previously sought legal action against the NHI, but said that it would now prefer to take the route of mediation and engagement on the laws from within the GNU. No progress on these engagement have been communicated, and business groups report being left out in the cold, to date.
The main sticking point currently, however, is the BELA Bill.
Education changes
Very broadly, the Bill aims to strengthen governance in the education sector. It makes Grade R the new compulsory school-starting age, criminalises parents who don’t ensure their children are in school, and requires a delegated official to conduct a pre-registration site visit when parents apply to have their children home-schooled.
However, it has sparked controversy, particularly about mother tongue education and the powers of school governing bodies (SGBs).
Steenhuisen said he had “moved urgently” to meet Ramaphosa before Friday “to reiterate our objections in the strongest terms,” and would submit to the President the “simple amendments” the DA required and urge him to send the bill back to parliament.
“During the negotiations [of the GNU] the DA made it clear that the … bill was unacceptable to us in its current form, because it has constitutional implications for the right to mother tongue education, among other issues,” said the DA leader.
“If the president continues to ride roughshod over these objections, he is endangering the future of the GNU and destroying the good faith on which it was based,” he added.
While the DA has been particularly vocal around this issue, they are not the only GNU partners to have expressed their concerns over the Bill.
After the Bill was passed, the Freedom Front Plus said that “if the President signs this law, a full-blown legal battle will ensue [and] the poor consideration of public participation and certain flawed aspects of the Bill itself will most probably be challenged in the Constitutional Court.”
“If government does start implementing the law, an exodus from public schools will soon follow,” added the party.
While Ramaphosa has some urging him to drop the pen and send the Bill back to Parliament, many (most notably those within his own party) are calling on him to sign along the dotted line.
The BELA Bill is a brainchild of the ANC and features quite extensively in the outcomes of its most recent policy conference (2022).
The Basic Education Deputy Minister, Dr Reginah Mhaule, shrugged off criticism by saying that the Bill does not hurt the sector but rather creates an inclusive, equitable, and efficient basic education system by harmonising SGBs with departments.
The Presidency said that Ramaphosa will sign the Bill on Friday, 13 September 2024.
(With SA News)
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