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By Johnathan Paoli
Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Basic Education chairperson Joy Maimela has voiced serious concerns that recently gazetted draft regulations for the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act could undermine the legislation’s core intent of transforming the education system and promoting inclusivity.
Maimela said the committee had previously urged the department to publish all BELA-related regulations at once to enable the public to engage with a single, comprehensive document.
“While we understand the intent may be to avoid technical delays, this fragmented rollout undermines the coherence, urgency and integrity of the BELA implementation process. South Africa’s children cannot afford to wait for bureaucratic caution or political compromise,” she stated.
Maimela noted that some terms in the draft text diverged from the Act itself, creating the impression that the regulations were diluting the legislation. This, she warned, risked perpetuating exclusionary practices that Parliament had sought to end.
In particular, she pointed to clauses on school admissions that instruct officials to consider the demographics and education needs of the “surrounding community”.
The Act instead places admission policy authority with the provincial head of department (HOD), based on the “broader education districts”, a shift designed to prevent localised gatekeeping that could maintain demographic homogeneity.
Similarly, Maimela criticised the introduction of “feeder zones” in the draft rules, a term absent from the Act, saying it could once again tie access to geographic boundaries historically used to exclude disadvantaged learners.
“It seems these regulations are attempting to re-write the BELA Act and re-introduce matters that were unsuccessfully contested in the legislative process,” she said.
She stressed that the committee remained committed to ensuring the Act dismantled rather than reinforced historical inequality, and it would continue to exercise oversight to safeguard its constitutional intent.
The GOOD Party expressed similar concerns but went further, accusing Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube of using the regulations to intentionally weaken the BELA Act and the amended South African Schools Act.
GOOD’s secretary-general Brett Herron described the publication as “a moment that should have been a milestone but has instead revealed serious concerns”.
“The BELA Act was meant to reform outdated admissions and language policy frameworks and dismantle the spatial, linguistic and racial barriers that persist in South Africa’s public education system. However, the wording of the regulations does not reflect that intention. Instead, the minister has selectively chosen language that risks entrenching exclusion,” Herron said.
According to Herron, the shift in wording from “broader community in the education district”, as stated in the Act, to “surrounding community, including language preference” closely mirrored a bilateral agreement Gwarube concluded with trade union Solidarity and lobby group AfriForum in November last year.
He said the contradicted Parliament’s intent and was not incorporated into the final legislation.
Herron accused Gwarube of privately negotiating with Solidarity during public protests against BELA reforms led by the DA, AfriForum and the Freedom Front Plus.
These groups had opposed aspects of the legislation, claiming that it threatened Afrikaans-medium education.
He contended that the bilateral settlement reached at the National Economic Development and Labour Council had now resurfaced in the draft regulations despite President Cyril Ramaphosa ignoring it during the legislative process.
“The minister cannot use regulations to amend legislation. That’s settled law, her public power to draft regulations must implement the legislation, not a private deal excluding all other stakeholders,” Herron argued.
The dispute has also reignited debate over language policy in public schools.
Herron accused opponents of the BELA Act of weaponising the Afrikaans language issue to preserve historical privilege under the guise of cultural protection.
The two draft regulations, covering school admissions and language policy, are open for public comment until 5 September.
Herron urged citizens to participate in the process, warning that failure to amend the rules could trigger legal action.
Maimela, meanwhile, reiterated that Parliament’s oversight role would be “robust” in defending the Act’s inclusivity.
Maimela also encouraged stakeholders, including educators, parents, advocacy groups and learners, to scrutinise the documents and submit their views.
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