D-Day for Bela Bill | Pressure mounts on President Ramaphosa to sign Bill into law

Pressure is mounting on President Cyril Ramaphosa to sign the Bela Bill on Friday or face an all out revolt from those within the ANC alliance and civil society.

The latest join the chorus imploring Ramaphosa to put pen to paper and sign the Bill into law is outgoing secretary general of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Marshall Dlamini.

Dlamini, speaking on Thursday ahead of the EFF's National People's Assembly said that if President Ramaphosa did not sigh the Bill, there would mass protests.

Dlamini’s remarks follows reports that pressure was mounting on President Cyril Ramaphosa from his African National Congress (ANC) to fire Basic Education minister Siviwe Gwarube.

Gwarube who is a member of the Democratic Alliance has voiced opposition to elements of the  the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act.

Earlier this year, Gwarube, did not attend the signing of the bill, as her party strongly opposed it.

However, in the wake of the recent report that Ramaphosa was to show Gwarube the door, the DA threatened that doing so would end their ties in the GNU.

In response to the media reports, leader of the Democratic Alliance, John Steenhuisen threatened that firing Gwarube or any other DA minister “for doing their jobs” would not be tolerated.

“Doing so would signal an end to the Government of National Unity (GNU),” said Steenhuisen in a statement.

His assurance comes ahead of the deadline for consultations of the outstanding Bela Bill clauses that were suspended in September pending further discussions, on Friday, December 13.

The two clauses relate to the provincial department being responsible for the admitting of pupils into a public school, taking away the responsibility of school governing bodies (SGB).

The other one sees the power of determining a school’s language policy move from the SGB to the provincial department.

Speaking at a media briefing in Nasrec Expo Centre, in Soweto on the state of readiness for the party’s National People’s Assembly, Dlamini said the EFF would not backdown look down on its demand for the bill to be signed into law.

“The issue of the Bela Bill, it must be signed,” Dlamini said.

Dlamini threatened that if the Bela Bill is not signed, the party will take action.

“If it's not signed, as you know, that this organisation, it's a protest movement. We'll go back to the picket lines at our home and we will push until that Bela Bill is signed,” Dlamini told the media.

He said the bill must be signed without any amendment from the DA or anyone else.

“So whoever is responsible, if Cyril (Ramaphosa) is responsible, he better sign. Because once we leave this NPA, the whole country will feel the might of the EFF,” Dlamini said.

Dlamini said the party is ready to mobilise a protest if the bill is not signed.

“We are ready to take it to the ground,” he said.

The country’s largest teacher union South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) has also weighed in on the issue and called on Ramaphosa that sections 4 and 5 of the Bela Act be implemented by or no later than December 13.

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