Trade Union Solidarity said on Tuesday it will continue with its plans for a peaceful protest against the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act, despite Freedom Park rejecting its application to hold the march there.

The protest is set to take place on November 5, and the organisation said, if necessary, it will lead the procession to the entrance of the park, citing a significant number of protestors already registered to participate.

The movement also called on Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie to intervene, to ensure that Freedom Park urgently reconsiders its decision to approve its application.

Solidarity Movement chairperson Flip Buys revealed that at least 50 Afrikaans organisations and more than 70 schools adopted a resolution at the BELA Action Summit, held on October 10, and agreed to a day of protest and a protest march to show the Afrikaans community’s opposition to the two articles of the Act.

Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the BELA Bill into law, despite a significant degree of public rejection, and concern over its constitutionality.

He placed on hold two clauses of the Bill for three months to find solutions to the concerns around them.

Should no solutions be found, the Bill would be implemented fully, he said.

Buys said Solidarity was protesting sections 5 and 6 of the BELA Act, which he said were set to “deprive school governing bodies of the final decision-making powers over schools’ admission and language policies".

He said Freedom Park’s refusal to let protestors through, indicated that it “does not consider the celebration or protection of Afrikaans and the Afrikaans community” as part of its mandate to celebrate South African heritage.

“The park’s mission to build a future as a united nation does not seem to include the Afrikaans community, and their refusal can only be interpreted as a symbolic move to exclude Afrikaners and Afrikaans speakers from participating in this unity,” Buys stated.

Last week, civil society organisation AfriForum sent a letter to the CEO of Freedom Park Dr Jane Mufamadi, to officially request that access to the site be granted to the protesters.

Buys said Solidarity had also instructed its legal team to begin legal proceedings to investigate all possible remedies for the approval of the protest action.

AfriForum said it was also advised to communicate with the Presidency directly about the matter.