SADTU VEHEMENTLY REJECTS DA’s UNLAWFUL GUIDELINES FOR PURPOSES OF IMPLEMENTING CERTAIN SECTIONS OF THE BELA ACT
The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) is dismayed by the arrogance of the Minister of Basic Education by releasing the purported guidelines for the implementation of the Bela Act.
These guidelines were sent to MECs for Education and all Heads of Provincial Education Departments on Thursday, 12 June 2025
The Minister seems confused of her legal authority in terms of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. SADTU, through its lawyers, have written to the Minister repeatedly reminding her that she cannot exercise a power she does not have in law, and we are yet to understand what legal basis and authority these purported guidelines derive from.
The law is clear that the Minister is only allowed to make regulations, not guidelines, in terms of the Bela Act, and that is the very reason that SADTU rejected these guidelines in the first place and by the Minister’s own admission, the Bela Act does not expressly provide for the drafting and issuing of these guidelines and further that it has no binding or lawful effect. Meanwhile she refers to them as intended for the implementation of Bela.
SADTU can only deduct from her actions, that the Minister is seeking to cause confusion with her political gimmick of pushing her DA’s agenda of the Bela Act which we are well aware of their tactics trying to halt its full implementation around sections 4 and 5.
The Minister must remember her role as an executive authority and must back off on areas that do not concern her. She continues to undermine the Constitution of our country and the National Education Policy Act that provide consultation with all stakeholders in education on matters of education. She must also remember that SADTU is the largest education union in the country and will not tolerate being a spectator in matters that involve us.
SADTU has been fully compliant and engaged in the development of the regulations that were concluded end of March this year and do not understand why there has been no further movement on the regulations since. We therefore demand that the Minister retracts these guidelines and stop delaying tactics. We want the process to be lawful and be speeded up. We further call on all institutions of learning and School Governing Bodies to ignore these so-called guidelines. MECs and Heads of Departments are urged not to share these guidelines with schools.
We call on all our members who serve in the School Governing Bodies across the country to ignore these unlawful guidelines and demand for the implementation of the regulations.
ISSUED BY: SADTU Secretariat