Mashatile emphasizes need for educational reform in his tribute to Bengu

Vice President Paul Mashatile has called on the government to honor the late former education minister, Prof Sibusiso Bengu, by accelerating the implementation of the Basic Education Act (Bela) Amendment Bill.

Mashatile was speaking at the funeral of Bengu, the country's first education minister in the democratic era and former ambassador, in University of Zululand in KwaZulu-Natal on Friday

“The death of Prof. Bengu should push us to pay more urgent collective attention to some of society’s challenges, including the transformation of our country’s educational landscape,” he said.

“As a first step towards transforming education in South Africa, our government will ensure that the implementation of the Bela Act occurs as quickly as possible.”

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Bengu, who served as the country's ambassador to Germany following his tenure as Education Minister, was given a special Category 2 state funeral at his alma mater in Esikhawini.

Mashatile said the Bela Law gives provincial education departments greater control over schools' admissions policies, language practices and code of conduct, ensuring they respect the cultural and religious beliefs of all students.

“It seeks to ensure that, in line with the changing socio-political, economic and geographic landscape in South Africa, all students have equal and fair access to the quality basic education that the country has to offer.”

The law has been a contentious issue with current minister Siviwe Gwarube and her party, the DA, having previously expressed opposition to some parts of it.

Thamisanqa Mseleku, a South African high commissioner to Nigeria who worked with Bengu as director of the education department, said the Bela Law actually resulted from compromises they had to make during national negotiations around the Schools Law before it was adopted. of the 1996 constitution.

“We weren’t very happy with it (the clause), but it was between taking the country to a referendum and accepting what we had and working with it. Eventually, Prof Bengu agreed with us, although the SACP was not so sure,” he said.

“It was the most democratically consulted process, the powers of the governing body. All aspects of it went to every corner of this country, consulting everyone, because the clause in the first constitution said that we cannot change the powers of the governing body without proper consultation.”

Mseleku said Gwarube's recent budget speech emphasized that there is a lot to learn from the Bengu generation as the challenges facing the department are not very different.

“The speech outlined seven priorities, including access, quality, equity of infrastructure and inclusive education. The context may be different, but the conversations remain the same.”

– AfriLatest