Pretoria: The Government of National Unity (GNU) clearing house mechanism has established a dedicated task team to tackle issues raised by various stakeholders concerning the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act. This decision follows a meeting held on Wednesday, where leaders discussed apprehensions about the Act, particularly focusing on two contentious clauses.

According to South African Government News Agency, the Deputy President’s Office reported that the meeting was attended by most participating parties within this framework. The urgent need to resolve the matter within the three-month timeframe set by President Cyril Ramaphosa was highlighted during the discussions. Consequently, the clearing house mechanism resolved to form a small team tasked with addressing the concerns raised by some parties.

The newly established team includes Deputy Minister Andries Nel; Dr. Cornelius Mulder from the Freedom Front Plus; Brett Herron from the GOOD Party; Helen Zille from the Democratic Alliance; and Mdumi
seni Ntuli from the African National Congress. President Ramaphosa had signed the Bill into law in September but postponed the implementation of clauses 4 and 5-pertaining to school admissions and language-to allow for further debate, following opposition from certain quarters.

According to the Deputy President’s Office, the task team has been allotted two weeks to conduct their work and report back to the clearing house mechanism. The meeting underscored the importance of setting aside party-political interests to devise a solution that benefits all South Africans.

The GNU clearing house mechanism was established by President Ramaphosa last month to address policy conflicts within the 10-member GNU, which is led by Deputy President Paul Mashatile, focusing on resolving policy agreements and other disputes.