Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader, John Steenhuisen threatens court action over BELA Act. Picture: Courtney Africa/Independent Newspapers
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen said if attempts to stop the proposed BELA Act through discussion fail, the party will take the Government of National Unity (GNU) to court.
On Tuesday, lobby group AfriForum and several other organisations protested against the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act in Pretoria.
Many suggested that this was a threat and erased the heritage of the Afrikaans Language at schools.
The BELA Act was signed into law in September, but to allow for more consultation, President Cyril Ramaphosa delayed the execution of two of its sections.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Stop BELA march in Pretoria, Steenhuisen told the media that the uproar could be avoided if they reach an agreement to stop the BELA Act.
“We will continue to go into that process with open hands and then that’s willing to look at ways for us to find a compromise.
“I think we can do it I don’t think that there are certain safeguards that communities are looking for and I think we can do it.”
“If that fails, there are a whole lot of ways that are open to using, there are Parliamentary and court steps, the right to mother tongue education is contained in the Bill of Rights and it is there to protect linguistic and cultural communities from discrimination from efforts to try and marginalise,” he said.
He added that this was why the framers of the Constitution chose 11 languages and not just two and put the clause in it.
“We believe that if there’s no opportunity to find each other, the courts will ultimately end up having to decide it will probably end up in the constitutional court interpretation.
“We can avoid all of that we can find each other, I’m convinced of it. I don’t think we are far apart, there’s going to be compromises required on both sides,” he said.
AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said the Bela Act would affect Afrikaans schools.
Kriel claimed that people are angry because the BELA Act is targeting Afrikaans schools specifically and therefore it's targeting children.
Steenhuisen said the DA was committed to open dialogues involving the act.
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
IOL Politics