DA: Lesufi ‘misleading the public’ on school language policies in GP

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has accused Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi of “misleading the public” with regards to language policies in Gauteng schools.

What Lesufi said about school language policies

According to Member of Parliament (MP) Desiree van der Walt, on 16 August 2019, Lesufi had a Radio 702 interview. During the interview, the MEC announced that “all language policies of all our schools have been declared null and void” in Gauteng.

Van der Walt, who is also the DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Basic Education, felt Lesufi’s statements were ‘misleading.’ The MP shared how the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, had responded to a DA Parliamentary question relating to language policies.

Motshekga’s take on the policies

Motshekga noted:

“The language policies of schools in the Republic are not hitherto null and void as their development and review should be informed by the periodic review of departmental policies. The development and periodic review of departmental language policies including the Language in Education Policy are informed by provisions such as the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa as well as the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996.”

Angie Motshekga, Minister of Basic Education

DA blames Lesufi for ‘misleading the public’

Van der Walt stated that the minister’s response clearly showed how “incorrect and misleading” Lesufi’s statements were. The MP explained how the MEC had claimed that schools had until the end of September to submit new language policies.

The MP also noted Lesufi’s statement “that every School Governing Body in Gauteng would be compelled to call parents to vote on which languages should remain and which should be changed.” Van der Walt also shared how the MEC added that “we have passed the legislation in Parliament. That legislation must be adopted. . .”

She argued that “no such legislation was passed in Parliament.” The MP agreed that school language policies in schools were determined by school governing bodies.

What the Basic Education Rights Handbook says

However, she disagreed with Lesufi’s unilateral declararation “that all language policies [were] null and void.” Van der Walt added: “The Basic Education Rights Handbook clearly states an MEC’s powers in this regard.”

She quoted the handbook noting that it stated:

“While the school governing body determines the language policy of the school, the MEC may intervene if the language policy is discriminatory, unduly restricts access to the school, or is unreasonable in any other way.”

The Basic Education Rights Handbook

DA calls Lesufi to account for false utterances

Van der Walt explained how none of the above mentioned “circumstances” were “applied to the context of Lesufi’s statements on radio.” She called for the MEC to account for “misleading the public” on the matter.

The DA’s MP noted how there “clearly had not been any amendments to the legislation which guides school language policies to date.”