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BELA in the Balance

BELA can be Beaten

The Office of the President recently made a statement that the BELA Bill will not be signed before a new administration is in place. Depending on which parties are in the new government, the BELA Billl could be referred back to parliament. For example, the DA has stated that the BELA Bill is a non-negotiable for them.

The BELA Bill could now be in the balance and a large number of members of the public writing to the President could get the Bill sent back to parliament for reconsideration.

Write to the President

The Pestalozzi Trust sent a highly detailed and legally dense letter to the President on the procedural flaws in the BELA Bill. It also touched on the constitutional objections.

You can read a summary of the letter HERE.

You can read the full letter HERE.

This letter means the President will have to consult with legal advisors and apply his mind to the concerns raised before he can sign the Bill.

A flood of letters from members of the public, that shows that BELA Bill is not supported and highlights flaws in the process and the Bill from YOUR perspective could possibly see BELA Bill being sent back to parliament and the process being re-run in a parliament in which no single party has power.

So let’s take up our swords (in the form of our pens) once again, and let’s give the BELA Bill the death-knell!

Please use the form below to support the Pestalozzi Trust’s letter to the president.
  1. Black lettering will be added automatically to your letter (no need to repeat that in your inputs).
  2. Blue lettering should be reworded and pasted into the input below.
  3. Red lettering is for guidance only. Don’t include it in your letter!
  4. Once you click “Submit”, your letter will be delivered to the Presidency. A copy will also be bcc’d to homeschoolfreedom1996@gmail.com and to the email address provided in the form.

Letter to the President

Dear President Ramaphosa,

I am writing to ask you to not sign the BELA Bill into law and to rather refer it back to Parliament to allow them to engage in a thorough process of public engagement.

Write your own personalized comments in this field. It is very important to give your own input. (Required)
The process of public engagement has been flawed from inception when the DBE first published the Bill in 2017.

Inputs by homeschoolers on the BELA Bill have been ignored, misunderstood, and misrepresented.

If you have not made inputs on the Bill before, skip this step.
If you have made inputs before, use this guidance:
[As an engaged citizen I have (LIST OCCASIONS WHEN YOU HAVE MADE INPUTS):
  • Submission to DBE in 2017.
  • Written submission to National Assembly.
  • Attended National Assembly public hearings.
  • Made a submission at a public hearing.
  • Written submissions to NCOP.
  • Attended public National Council of Provinces public hearings]
[Share your experiences and whether you felt the DBE and parliamentarians listened to you. List key comments that you made that were ignored.]
In addition to my personal experiences, that should convince you that the Bill should not be signed, you should not sign the Bill for the following general reasons:
  1. The majority of the submissions on the BELA Bill rejected the Bill.
  2. No adequate Socio-Economic Impact Assessment was completed for the Bill especially in respect of homeschooling.
  3. No full version of the Socio-Economic Impact Assessment was made available to the public and a key annexure that purportedly dealt with homeschooling, even though the annexure was flawed, was not shared. This means that the vast majority of the public could not point this out.
  4. The DBE and most MPs did not consider the alternative proposals of homeschoolers.
  5. The BELA Bill gives the Minister the power to make regulations but the DBE admits they do not have expertise on homeschooling (not even knowing how many homeschoolers there are) and do not have research on homeschooling.
I endorse the Pestalozzi Trust’s letter sent to you on 17 May 2024 and ask you to accede to the Trust’s requests.

Kind Regards,
Consent(Required)
I consent to the collection, storing, processing, and use by the Pestalozzi Trust of any personal and special personal information, including the personal and special personal information of children, provided by myself in the above form, for the purpose set out in this privacy statement (See https://bit.ly/3wyzm6v). I consent to the processing of any personal and special personal information, including the personal and special personal information of children, provided by myself in the above form, by a third party, and a third party outside the Republic of South Africa (RSA), for the purposes as set out in the above privacy statement. I consent to the sharing of the above personal and special personal information, including the personal and special personal information of children, with the Parliament of RSA for the purpose of making this submission.