Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
13 December 2024 Photo Supplied
Dr Solomon Chibaya
Dr Solomon Chibaya, lecturer in the Department of Education Management, Policy, and Comparative Education, University of the Free State.

Opinion article by Dr Solomon Chibaya, lecturer in the Department of Education Management, Policy, and Comparative Education, University of the Free State.


Friday 13 December 2024 marks a crucial moment in South African education law. All stakeholders are awaiting the decision regarding implementation of the contentious sections 4 and 5 of the Basic Education Amendment Bill. After President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Bill into law, he delayed implementation of the sections on language and admission policies for three months. This was meant to allow for consultation on proposals for resolving the conflicts around the contested sections.

The main issue around the language and admission policies is that the Bela Act allows the provincial heads of departments to have the final say on these policies after the school governing bodies (SGBs) have developed them. Some SGBs see this as their powers being usurped, which contradicts the democratisation of school governance. However, cases in which the powers of SGBs have been abused in ways that led to exclusionary language and admission policies presents the need for oversight of these critical school policies.

Friday 13 December 2024 is the deadline for the resolution.

One cannot avoid thinking about the implications of the different possible outcomes of the decision beyond 13 December. The president could approve the Act without any changes, or clauses 4 and 5 could be returned to the National Assembly for reworking.

If approved

If the Act is to be approved with the two contentious clauses in their current form, there will be a barrage of court cases from opponents of the decision. Over the past few months preceding the signing of the Bela Bill and after it was signed on 13 September 2024, the DA, AfriForum and other lobby groups have promised to take the matter to court. In such a scenario, all parties must prepare themselves for long, vicious and contentious court battles that have enormous implications for the political context defined by the Government of National Unity (GNU).

What will add further fuel to the fire is that at the helm of the department in which the Act is being debated is a DA minister, Minister Siviwe Gwarube. Will she toe the line and follow the law as expected by her office? Or will she follow the direction of her political party, which has been clear about how much it abhors the Act, especially in relation to its current form? She could find herself in the firing line.

If approved in its current form, beyond 13 December 2024, the Act will appease proponents who have been clear about their support for it. Proponents of the Bela Act, such as the ANC (which has been campaigning for it to be embraced by all), SADTU (which on countless matches in support of the Act and have even threatened the president with litigation if they do not get their way), and other political parties like the EFF and the MK Party will be vilified. Considering this, the country’s polarisation is apparent and is a potential and real threat to the GNU/coalition.

If sent back

The DA, AfriForum, and other lobby groups, especially those who want clauses 4 and 5 overhauled, will celebrate, but only for a moment. At least they can battle against the Act’s current form in the National Assembly. Rather than the rigour and expenses surrounding litigation, the different sides must now use their different lawmakers to make a case for them.

The results from the last votes on the BELAB held on 16 May 2024 showed that 223 votes were in favour of and 78 votes against the bill. If these results are anything to go by, there is little change the National Assembly would make to the Act. It will boil down to votes, and the scale will be lopsided. We will be heading for litigation and threats.

At the centre of this is the child whose best interest we are supposed to looking out for. Beyond Friday 13 December 2024, our focus will move away from the child to the National Assembly, the courtrooms, the never-say-no law firms. All eyes will be on the political space. 

News Archive

Alcinda Honwana: Youth Protests Main Mechanism against Regime
2015-05-25

Prof Alcinda Honwana

"Enough is Enough!": Youth Protests and Political Change in Africa (speech) 

The Centre for Africa Studies at the UFS hosted an interdisciplinary project on the Bloemfontein Campus from 20-22 May 2015.

The project, entitled Contemporary Modes of Othering: Its Perpetuation and Resistance, looked at different perspectives, representations, and art forms of otherness, how it is perceived, and how it is resisted.

The annual Africa Day Memorial Lecture was held on Thursday evening 21 May 2015 at the CR Swart Auditorium. Guest speaker Prof Alcinda Honwana addressed the subject of ‘Youth Protests and Political Change in Africa’.

“Youth now seem able to display what they don’t want, rather than what they do want,” Honwana said in her opening remarks. “Thus, we see the young driven to the streets to protest against regimes.”
 
Honwana shed some light on recent examples of youth protests in Africa that have enjoyed global attention. Looking at the protests in Tunisia (2010), Egypt (2011), Senegal (2012), and Burkina Faso (2014), it is clear that these events in northern and western Africa have inspired others globally. Yet, Honwana stated that, despite these protests, no social economic change has been seen, and has left dissatisfaction with new governments as well.

“Once regimes fall… young activists find themselves more divided, it seems…

“Which leaves the question: Will street protests remain young people’s main mechanism to avert those in power?”

Background on Prof Alcinda Honwana:

Alcinda Honwana is currently Visiting Professor of Anthropology and International Development at the Open University (UK). She was chair in International Development at the Open University, and taught Anthropology at the University Eduardo Mondlane in Maputo, the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and the New School for Social Research in New York. She was programme director at the Social Science Research Council in New York, and worked for the United Nations Office for Children and Armed Conflict. Honwana has written extensively on the links between political conflict and culture, and on the impact of violent conflict on children and youth, conducting research in Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Colombia, and Sri Lanka. Her latest work has been on youth and social change in Africa, focusing on Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia.

Honwana’s latest books include:

• Youth and Revolution in Tunisia (2013); 
• Time of Youth: Work, Social Change, and Politics in Africa (2012);
• Child Soldiers in Africa (2006);
• Makers and Breakers: Children and Youth in Postcolonial Africa (2005, co-edited).

Honwana was awarded the prestigious Prince Claus Chair for Development and Equity in the Netherlands in 2007.

 

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept