By Daanyaal Matthews
The South African Democratic Trade Union (SADTU) has maintained its position on the BELA Act, calling for its introduction without a change to the presently suspended clauses while also calling for further investment in the education sector.
According to the National Spokesperson for SADTU, Nomusa Cembi, these calls are for the betterment of their members but more importantly for the Republic of South Africa, especially regarding the BELA Act, which they believe should have been implemented fully without further consultation given the bill’s history.
“We feel that it should have been implemented in full. For us, we saw that those clauses, four and five, are crucial to this, and we feel every consultation was done, and what is before the President is correct and constitutionally sound because most of it is based on previous constitutional court judgments that had to deal with the issue of languages and admissions policies,” argued Cembi.
The BELA bill seeks to standardize the education sector, allowing for more government oversight, thus impeaching on the present powers of school governing bodies. However, for oversight to be thorough, skilled personnel are required, which, given the present budget cuts, has been a cause for concern for the union and its partners. Cembi argued the looming budget crisis, derived from austerity cuts, is a core issue for the Union and highlights the ‘Go Public Fund Education Campaign’ campaign that the Union will be undergoing to urge for further investment into public education.
“We’ve launched a campaign, which we call the ‘Go Public Fund Education Campaign’, which is aimed at urging the government to invest in public education. We are very much concerned that the government, with its austerity measures that are taking place, is taking away what is due to education, and we feel that education is the fundamental right for the public good and it cannot be left to do on its own because it is not a commodity,” stressed Cembi.
VOCNews
Image: Twitter@SadtuNational
