Durban – Authorities believe that a last-minute change of venue impacted on the number of people that participated in the public hearings of the Basic Education Law Amendment (Bella) Bill in Pietermaritzburg, but the fact remains that the bill was rejected in KwaZulu-Natal, MPs heard on Tuesday.
The bill proposes changes to the South African Schools Act which seeks to hand control to the Education Department in determining a school’s language policy and curriculum, compulsory schooling from Grade R, and the prohibition of corporal punishment and initiation practices.
The bill was introduced by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga in January 2022, and since then public hearings have been held in different provinces.
In a briefing to members of the education portfolio committee, MPs were told that public hearings on the bill were conducted in the districts of eThekwini, uMgungundlovu and uMkhanyakude to determine the level of support for the bill in KwaZulu-Natal.
Tuesday’s meeting was aimed at adopting the draft report on the public hearings that had been conducted in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in May.
The committee, which is chaired by Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba, is expected to go through the reports of hearings that were conducted in other provinces in the coming months.
While the hearings took place without any difficulty in eThekwini and Jozini in far-northern KZN, in Pietermaritzburg it emerged that the city in which the hearings were set to take place had been booked for another event.
This forced organisers of the hearings to find another venue, Grange Hall – a move which is believed to have affected the number of people attending the hearings.
“Observation made is that the sudden change of venue had an impact on the quality of participation in Msunduzi. Public information sessions were conducted, however, with the venue change fewer people than anticipated attended,” read the report.
The report, however, commended the level of participation in eThekwini, especially the involvement of young people during the hearings.
“Recognising that young people bear the brunt of access to basic education, their presence and participation in eThekwini Metro is something to be noted to highlight the strength of South Africa’s democracy,” the report continued.
According to the report, children in the 6 to 12-year age group were keen to have their voice heard on a bill that impacts on their education ensuring that young people’s views were represented. The report showed 46% support for the bill, against 50% opposition, with 3% partial support and the rest undecided.