BELA Bill: Petition the President

Background...

We are going to send a letter to the President. We are going to ask him NOT to sign the BELA Bill for the following reasons:

It is unconstitutional! 

Many decisions (which undermine our Democratic Rights) were made before, during and after the BELA Bill was drafted and sent through to the PCBE, NA, NCOP and back to the NA committee. 

1. The Socio-Economic Impact Assessment on Home Education was not conducted according to the SEIAS guidelines. 

During the PCBE deliberation process, which took place on 17 August 2023, Parliamentary advisor, Mrs Ngema, by her response confirmed that the SEIA was not adequate (though she did not state this directly). In response to the concern around the DBE’s lack of research into homeschooling, Mr Ndlebe stated that he believed the department did not need to conduct research into homeschooling, given that it has left the responsibility of teaching the children and the management of the entire process to parents. This justification is irrelevant because the SEIAS issue does not pertain to the management of the homeschooling process, but the cost to the state. "In South Africa, the Cabinet decided on the need for a consistent assessment of the socio-economic impact of policy initiatives, legislation and regulations in February 2007. The approval followed a study commissioned by the Presidency and the National Treasury in response to concerns about the failure in some cases to understand the full costs of regulations and especially the impact on the economy. To implement the Cabinet decision, from 1 October 2015 Cabinet Memoranda seeking approval for draft policies, Bills or regulations MUST include an impact assessment that has been signed off by the SEIAS Unit." Source: SEIAS Guidelines

Since home educators save the Government approximately R16 000 per year, should homeschoolers enter the public education system (because of home schooling regulations being to stringent and assessments being too expensive) this will have financial implications for the state. For this reason, the SEIA is relevant and should be conducted again, and this time per SEIAS Guidelines! 

2. My petition was ignored! 

According to the Constitution, "Everyone has the right to peacefully and unarmed assemble, to demonstrate, to picket and to present petitions." The petition that I, Stacey van der Walt, sent to the NCOP (which was signed by over 3000 individuals) was never officially acknowledged by the NCOP (this would have involved it being tabled in the relevant House and referred to the relevant Committee for consideration and report), nor was I notified of the reason for this as per Chapter 6, rule 236 of the NCOP Rulebook (9th edition) which states: "The committee shall inform a petitioner of the decision or other course of action with regard to a particular petition and the reasons therefore". 

3. National Agreements were not tabled. 

During the PCBE clause-by-clause analysis process, Mrs Moroane stated that registration is important and assists the DBE in fulfilling its obligation as a government to account for the whereabouts of each school and report the data to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) so that it can evaluate the access of education in the country. 

According to Chapter 14.231 of our Bill of Rights, any national agreements linked to a Bill should be tabled (even if those agreements are not dependent on the NCOP for approval). This is important as an international agreement might cover matters that fall within the concurrent powers of provinces and the national sphere. International agreements may also impose burdens on provinces either directly or indirectly.

If parliament did not have the capacity, the NCOP could have requested that the Department of Foreign Affairs attach memoranda to agreements tabled in the NCOP, indicating the implications of the agreement for provinces. (Source: Speeding Transformation, NCOP’s Role in the Oversight Process)

Please consider adding your signature to this petition (collected under SurveyHeart). 

Stacey van der Walt