The noise surrounding two clauses of the Bela Act is drowning out what it could potentially mean for the education sector in South Africa - more equitable and accessible quality education for SA's children.

Emotions ran high in Pretoria at the beginning of November when thousands of members of civil society organisations and political parties, including Solidarity and AfriForum, marched against the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act - and two clauses in particular: the admissions and language policies, clauses 4 and 5.

Leader of the DA and Minister of Agriculture in the GNU, John Steenhuisen, said at the event that his party was committed to resolving the matter, but they were willing to take the issue to court: "The right to mother tongue education is contained in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. It will probably end up in the Constitutional Court for interpretation, but we can avoid all of that. We can find each other, I am convinced of it."

The Act in question was passed by a National Assembly vote in May 2024 and was hailed as a critical milestone in the transformation of the education sector, despite opposition to the final Bill by the Democratic Alliance, ActionSA and the African Christian Democratic Party.

President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Bela Bill into law on 13 September 2024, but said he would delay the implementation of the two clauses for three...