How President Cyril Ramaphosa navigates the pending clauses of the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act may expose the strengths and weaknesses of the Government of National Unity (GNU).
Early indications are that the president finds himself between a rock and the hard place, in the true sense of the phrase.
The two clauses relate to the provincial departments being responsible for admitting pupils into a public school, taking away the responsibility of school governing bodies (SGB). The other sees the power of determining a school’s language policy move from the SGB to the provincial departments.
On the one hand is the DA which has been opposed to the signing of the bill in its entirety with senior party member, now Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube, boycotting the signing ceremony in September.
If Ramaphosa gives the two clauses the green light, rest assured that the DA will start to ask serious questions about its role in the GNU.
On the other hand, he will not want to alienate an already fragile alliance with the Cosatu-affiliated South African Democratic Teachers Union, which expects him to put pen to paper as in yesterday.
Piling more pressure on the president is the influential Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi who has cautioned the ANC national leadership against being boxed into a corner by the DA, which he accuses of protecting the current status quo, which only benefits the minority white population.
By delaying the two clauses, Ramaphosa may have inadvertently armed his critics who maintain that his “over-consultation” on issues he is constitutionally empowered to decide on, weakens his grip as the president and leaves room for confusion and uncertainty.
The sooner the president acknowledges that he cannot please everyone, the better his chances of not creating expectations he cannot meet. A decisive leader often enjoys the support of the majority. Ramaphosa’s indecisiveness and over-consulting are recipes for a disaster in a country that requires fundamental changes.
He has a chance to correct this with the outstanding Bela clauses. The ball is in your court Mr President.
Cape Times