By Afriforum and 40 other civil society organisations and solidarity will today, 5 November 2024, take to the streets in a protest march against the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act; to reject it in its current form.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader and Member of the GNU Parliament Mr John Steenhuisen will be in Pretoria today to receive the memorandum against the BELA Act from Afriforum and Civil society groups.
Though the Minister for Basic Education is a DA member and part of the Government of National Unity (GNU), the party has made it crystal clear that they stand against the BELA Act.
Afrikaans in basic education has been a bone of contention for many years since the apartheid era; in 1976, black leaners marched to abolish Afrikaans as a teaching medium, 30 years into democracy, the white population is marching to protect the language in schools.
According to the Afriforum CEO Kallie Kriel, who confirmed that the organisation will form part of the march today; the current format of the act’s provisions on public schools’ admissions and language policies creates the “biggest single challenge for Afrikaans cultural communities since 1994”
Kreil says this is about protecting the Afrikaans culture in the schools that are currently purely Afrikaans.
“In order to maintain the balance of forces and to protect the survival of Afrikaans cultural communities, visible protest is essential, which explains why this protest action is necessary,” said the Afriforum CEO Kallie Kriel.
The DA says they are standing against the BELA Act because it takes away the right of school governing bodies to make important decisions about language and admissions.
“Instead of destroying education in indigenous languages, we should be working to extend mother tongue education for all South Africans,” said the Democratic Alliance (DA).
The March will take place at the Voortrekker Monument at 9am Tuesday, 5 November 2024.
