No, South Africa's Basic Education Laws Amendment Act does not give schools control over gender-affirming healthcare
IN SHORT: Amendments to South Africa's basic education laws have spurred false information about the power schools have over schoolchildren. Claims that the changes give schools control over gender-affirming healthcare for pupils are not true. Consent for surgical or medical treatment is given by the child or their parents or guardians.
A warning to South African parents has been circulating on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, since September 2024. It claims that changes to the country's education laws will "take away your rights as a parent and replace you with the state".
One post, with over 11,000 views, includes a graphic claiming that schools will be given control to "change [a child's] gender and give her hormone blockers" without parental permission should the Basic Education Laws Amendment bill be signed into law. This is widely referred to as the Bela bill.
Similar claims can be found on Facebook, including one in a group with more than 142,000 members.
Some users were sceptical. One said: "I just read the bill and it doesn't talk about any of the above mentioned points."
But what do the amendments to the Bela bill really say about schools controlling learners' medical care? We looked into it.
Basic education amendments explained
The Bela bill was first introduced in the South African parliament in January 2022. After public consultation and debate, members of parliament voted in favour of the bill. President Cyril Ramaphosa signed it into law on 13 September 2024.
The bill proposed amendments to the South African Schools Act of 1986 and the Employment of Educators Act of 1998. According to the Department of Basic Education (DBE), the Bela bill focuses primarily on "administrative and management processes at the school level".
Key components include revising existing school admission and language policies, regulating homeschooling, expanding the number of compulsory schooling years, introducing jail terms for parents who do not send their children to school, and revising the definition of corporal punishment to include non-physical forms of punishment.
Opposition to the bill
Some South African citizens and political parties, notably the Democratic Alliance, the Freedom Front Plus and the African Christian Democratic Party, have publicly opposed clauses about strengthening government oversight of school admissions and language policies.
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Concerns were that it would give the government too much control over specific school policies overseen by school governing bodies (SGBs).
But the DBE has said the changes were intended to address the "discriminatory admission practices" of some schools and help realise the constitutional right of all children to access education.
Section27, a human rights-focused public interest law centre, debunked myths about the Bela bill in March 2024. The centre explained that rather than losing their powers, SGBs would "retain control over language and admissions policies, with the approval from the head of department in accordance with the constitution".
What do the amendments say about gender-affirming healthcare?
Africa Check has previously debunked other false claims about the amendments proposed by the Bela bill, including that they would allow learners to be "taught to masturbate" and grant schools control over abortions.
Now that it's an act, it still doesn't include changes to the curriculum or grant schools control over abortion services.
The concept of schools controlling other healthcare access for learners is false. Just as the act makes no mention of abortion, it does not refer to gender-affirming care, such as hormone therapies or medical transition services for gender-diverse people.
The Children's Act provides the framework for decisions around medical care for children under the age of 18. It says that children who are over 12, "mentally capable" and mature enough can ultimately make decisions about their medical treatment with their healthcare professionals. In other cases, and for surgical treatments, the children's parents or guardians can give consent.
