ATC230927: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education on the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill [B 2 – 2022] (National Assembly – sec 76)], dated 26 September 2023

Basic Education

Report of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education on the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill [B 2 – 2022] (National Assembly – sec 76)], dated 26 September 2023

The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, having considered the subject of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill [B 2 – 2022] (National Assembly – sec 76)], referred to it and classified by the Joint Tagging Mechanism as a section 76 Bill, reports the Bill with amendments [B 2A – 2022].

The Committee wishes to report as follows:

Context and background

On 15 December 2021, the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill (BELA Bill) [B 2 – 2022] was referred to the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education for consideration and report. Section 59 (1) (a) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, requires the National Assembly to facilitate public involvement in the legislative and other processes of the Assembly and its Committees.

Engagement with the Department of Basic Education

The Committee called for and received two (2) briefings by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) on the Bill on 8 February and 15 February 2022 respectively. These briefings enabled the Committee to establish the purpose and reasoning for the review of all basic education legislation as a strategic priority for the Department of Basic Education – and the proposed amendments to the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act No. 84 of 1996), and the Employment of Educators Act, 1998 (Act No. 76 of 1998) (the SASA and the EEA, respectively). These meetings also gave the necessary guidance and directives to the Committee on the way the introduced Bill be legislatively processed in terms of s76 of the Constitution as determined by the Joint Tagging Mechanism.

Objectives of the Bill

The Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill [B 2- 2022] seeks to amend the South African Schools Act, 1996 in respect of compulsory Grade R attendance; the authority of the Head of Department; the South African Sign Language as official language; the authority of the Minister to make appointments; the school code of conduct; the drugs and liquor on school premises; the suspensions and expulsions; the rules, roles and functions of the SGBs; the powers of the Head of Department; the penalty provisions for non-registration of Independent Schools; the empowerment of the Member of the Executive Council; the regulating of Home Education; the dispute resolution mechanisms between the Head of Department or the Member of the Executive Council and a governing body; and to provide for matters incidental thereto; and seek to amend the Employment of Educators Act, 1998 in respect of certain definitions; exclusions from the ambit of the Act; excluding or regulating Educators conducting business with the State; Powers of the Minister to make regulations; and to provide for matters incidental thereto.

Parliamentary Processes

The Committee has a constitutional obligation to facilitate public involvement whilst the public has a right to participate in legislative processes as envisaged by sections 59 and 76 of the Constitution.

Public Participation

Section 59 (1) (a) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, requires the National Assembly to facilitate public involvement in the legislative and other processes of the Assembly and its Committees. Public Participation in the processing of the Bill had three (3) distinct phases i.e.

Call for Written Comments/Submissions: The Committee published the Bill in national and regional newspapers calling for public written comments on the Bill from 1 May – 15 June 2022. This deadline was extended by another month to 15 August 2022.
Oral Submission Hearings: The Committee held oral hearings on 8, 15, 22 and 29 November 2022 physically at Parliament, Cape Town, to receive oral submissions from interested parties/organizations.
Provincial Public Participation Hearings: The Committee embarked on provincial public participation hearings in all nine (9) provinces in three (3) identified districts per province. Provincial public participation hearings commenced in Limpopo on 24 February 2023 and culminated in the last hearings in the Eastern Cape on 11 June 2023. Comprehensive reports on the provincial hearings as well as a Consolidated Report were tabled, considered and adopted by the Committee.

Portfolio Committee Deliberations

From 15 – 18 August 2023 the Committee convened physical meetings to consider and commence with the Clause-by-Clause deliberations on the Bill. For each of the clauses the Committee followed the following format:

The Content Advisor to read the clauses in totality.
An input by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) was received
Members deliberations and engagements
Responses from DBE, the State Law Advisor and Parliamentary Legal Services
Committee final decision on the Clause (support/not support/object/amend/remove)

Further to this, the Committee also called for and received the following briefings:

Briefing by the Parliamentary Legal Services on the Constitutionality of the Bill
Briefing by the Department of Basic Education on the Financial Implications of the Bill
Briefing by the DBE on the matrix and responses to the public submissions in their totality

For record purposes, the Democratic Alliance (DA), African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) and Freedom Front Plus (FF+) reserved their rights in voting on all the clauses as tabled before the Committee, even though they expressed views on the clauses during the deliberation meeting.

Motion of Desirability

As required by the National Assembly Rules, the Committee considered and adopted the Motion of Desirability (MOD) on the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill [B 2 – 2022] on 17 August 2023. The Content Advisor was requested to formally read into record the Motion of Desirability which was formally tabled for adoption by the Chairperson. The MOD was moved for adoption by Hon Moroatshehla and seconded by Hon Moroane. The Motion of Desirability was adopted.

For record purposes, the Motion of Desirability was objected to by the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP).

Amendment List (A-List)

The Committee together with the State Law Advisor and Parliamentary Legal Advisor, proceeded to consider the Amendment List (A-List) as agreed to by the Committee during the Clause-by-Clause engagements. Having satisfied itself that all the amendments were captured correctly, the Chairperson tabled the A-List for consideration and adoption. The A-list was moved for adoption by Hon Letsie and seconded by Hon Adoons. The A-List is as follows:

CLAUSE 1

1. On page 4, in line 9, to omit ‘‘means’’ and to substitute ‘‘includes’’.

2. On page 4, in line 23, after ‘‘(Act No. 31 of 2000),’’ to insert ‘‘a recognised

professional body in the field of education,’’.

3. On page 4, in line 42, to omit ‘‘exercise’’ and to substitute ‘‘exercises which

are not in accordance with the curriculum applicable to the learner’’.

4. On page 6, after line 27, to add the following paragraph:

‘‘(n) by the insertion in subsection (1) after the definition of

‘‘school fees’’ of the following definition:

‘special education needs’ means education designed to

facilitate the learning of individuals who, for a wide

variety of reasons, require additional support and adaptive

pedagogical methods in order to participate and meet

learning objectives in an educational programme;’’.

CLAUSE 2

1. On page 6, from line 37, to omit ‘‘: Provided that a learner who will turn

six after 30 June must start attending grade R the following year’’.

2. On page 6, in line 53, to omit ‘‘school activity’’ and to substitute ‘‘official

educational activity of a school’’.

3. On page 6, in line 54, after ‘‘school’s’’ to insert ‘‘official educational’’.

CLAUSE 4

1. On page 7, from line 24, to omit paragraph (b) and to substitute the

following paragraph:

‘‘(b) by the insertion after subsection (1) of the following

subsections:

‘(1A) Any learner whose parent or guardian has not

provided any required documents, whether of the learner

or such adult person acting on behalf of the learner, during

the application for admission, shall nonetheless be allowed

to attend school.

(1B) The principal of the school must advise the parent

or guardian to secure the required documents’.’’

2. On page 8, in line 17, after ‘‘school’’ to insert ‘‘in line with the Constitution

and relevant legislation’’.

3. On page 8, from line 18, to omit paragraph (a) and to renumber paragraphs

(b) to (e) accordingly.

4. On page 8, from line 25, to omit ‘‘, or may return it to the governing body

with such recommendations as may be necessary in the circumstances,

together with reasons for such recommendations’’.

5. On page 8, after line 41, to add the following paragraph:

‘‘(d) the Head of Department, after consultation with the governing

body of the school, has the final authority, subject to

subsection (9), to admit a learner to a public school; and’’.

6. On page 8, in line 44, to omit ‘‘(d)’’ and to substitute ‘‘(c)’’.

7. On page 8, in line 52, to omit ‘‘(c)’’ and to substitute ‘‘(b)’’.

8. On page 8, in line 55, to omit ‘‘(c)’’ and to substitute ‘‘(b)’’.

9. On page 9, in line 17, to omit ‘‘(c)’’ and to substitute ‘‘(b)’’.

CLAUSE 5

1. On page 9, from line 45, to omit ‘‘, or may return it to the governing body

with such recommendations as may be necessary in the circumstances,

together with reasons for such recommendations’’.

CLAUSE 8

1. On page 12, in line 29, to omit ‘‘(a)’’.

2. On page 12, from line 33, to omit paragraphs (b) to (g).

CLAUSE 9

1. On page 14, from line 17, to omit subsection (1)(a) and to substitute the

following subsection:

‘‘(1) (a) The governing body may, on reasonable grounds and as a

precautionary measure, suspend a learner who is [suspected]

accused of serious misconduct from attending school, but may

[only] enforce such suspension only after the learner has been

granted a reasonable opportunity to make representations to it in

relation to such suspension.’’.

CLAUSE 14

1. Clause rejected.

CLAUSE 15

1. Clause rejected.

CLAUSE 22

1. On page 20, in line 26, after ‘‘personal’’ to insert ‘‘and financial’’.

CLAUSE 37

1. On page 27, in line 3, to omit ‘‘annually’’ and to substitute ‘‘at the end of

each phase’’.

2. On page 27, in line 12, after ‘‘may’’ to insert ‘‘, on just cause shown and

after notification to the parent,’’.

3. On page 27, from line 13, to omit ‘‘home education site visit and’’.

CLAUSE 41

1. On page 30, in line 4, to omit ‘‘subsection’’ and to substitute ‘‘subsections’’.

2. On page 30, after line 10, to add the following subsection:

‘‘(3) Any regulation made under subsection (1)(aA) and (aB)

must, before publication in the Gazette, be tabled in Parliament.’’.

LONG TITLE

1. On page 2, in line 7 of the long title, to omit ‘‘school activities’’ and to

substitute ‘‘official educational activities of a school’’.

2. On page 2, from line 27 of the long title, to omit ‘‘and to provide for

conditions under which liquor may be possessed, sold or consumed on

school premises or during school activities’’.

3. On page 2, from line 34 of the long title, to omit ‘‘to provide for the

reasonable use of the facilities of a school for education-related activities

without the charging of a fee or tariff;’’.

4. On page 3, in line 7 of the long title, after ‘‘personal’’ to insert ‘‘and

financial’’.

For record purposes, the Democratic Alliance (DA), African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) and Freedom Front Plus (FF+) noted their objection to the A-List adoption.

Expression of minority views

Rule 288 of the National Assembly Rules stipulates as follows in relevant parts:

(1) The Assembly committee to which a Bill is referred must table in the Assembly, its report, the Bill as agreed on by it, in its final amended or redrafted form as adopted by the committee with other mentioned documents, like supporting memorandum, if memorandum has been amended by the committee.

(3) In its report the committee⸺

(d) must specify each amendment if an amended Bill (other than a redraft of the Bill) was agreed on by it, and each amendment that was considered and, for a reason other than its being out of order, was rejected by it;

(f) (ii) must, if it is not a unanimous report⸺ in addition to the view’s representative of the majority in the committee, convey any views of a minority in the committee in order to facilitate debate when the report comes before the House.

Minority reports on the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill [B 2A – 2022] were received from the Democratic Alliance (DA) and African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) – see Annexures.

Report to be Considered.

Documents