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Today’s signing of the Basic Education Law Amendment (BELA) Bill represents a further financial broadside from national government to the learners of the Western Cape.

Earlier this year, presentations made to the Western Cape Provincial Parliament by the Financial and Fiscal Commission revealed that the BELA Bill will cost R17.7 billion to implement at an absolute minimum. At the same time, the national Department of Basic Education admitted that they had not considered the full financial implications of the Bill, and had not accounted for factors such as Increased learner-teacher support materials (LTSM), increased learner transport, additional Special Education Needs Education, and increased administrative costs.

At successive meetings held with National Treasury and the national Department of Basic Education, neither entity could provide an answer on how the Bill would be funded, and who would be responsible for doing so. More shockingly still, National Treasury officials revealed that no funding allocation has been made for BELA’s implementation within the next three years, and that each province will be expected to pay a minimum of R2 billion per annum to fund the Bill’s implementation.

This would be in addition to the funding shortfall which the WCED already faces – which itself has been caused by the then ANC-led national government’s decision to agree to the 2023 wage increase, and then not fully fund the agreement. This shortfall this caused has forced the Western Cape Education Department into severe cost-cutting measures. This circumstance is not unique to the Western Cape, with provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal noting their own inability to afford more than 11 000 teaching posts.

Earlier this year, the Western Cape’s public hearings saw unprecedented engagement, with nearly 3 000 residents attending hearings in person, and more than 5 400 submitting written opinions. The vast majority of residents rejected the Bill, indicating a clear desire among residents of the Western Cape that the Bill not become law.

The upshot of all of this is simple: BELA will cost billions that neither our province nor our country has available, and stands to totally bankrupt the education sector. At the same time, its passage into law flies in the face of the views expressed by thousands of residents of the Western Cape.

DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Education Leon van Wyk says: “Once again, we see the ANC attempting to buy what it cannot afford. BELA will cost R18 billion at an absolute minimum, and will leave each province holding a perpetual R2 billion cost to be absorbed every year – at a time in which the national wage bill is already making it more difficult than ever to pay for basic services. While the DA supports measures such as the implementation of mandatory Grade R in principle, the fact remains that the BELA Bill is something which our country simply cannot afford. The people of our province have come out in their numbers to reject this Bill, and we as the DA stand with them.”

Issued by Leon van Wyk, MPP - DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Education