BELA Act, national dialogue on agenda for second meeting of GNU's clearing house forum

CAPE TOWN - The Government of National Unity (GNU)'s clearing house forum will meet for the second time on Thursday under the leadership of deputy president, Paul Mashatile. 

This will, however, be the first in-person gathering since the dispute resolution mechanism was officially set up during an online meeting last week. 

On the agenda at Tuynhuys on Thursday will be the sticking points in the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act and preparations for the national dialogue that was promised when the GNU was established in June.

The clearing house mechanism includes representatives from all ten coalition partners and is tasked with resolving policy disagreements and any other disputes within the GNU.

The Presidency said that Thursday’s meeting would include finalising the terms of reference for how the mechanism would operate. 

The meeting is also to receive an update on preparations for the G20 summit, which will be hosted by South Africa next year. 

The challenges of coalition governments at provincial and local government level will also be an ongoing discussion from last week. 

But probably the most contentious issue it needs to iron out soon is the deferment of two clauses of the so-called BELA Act, signed into law by the president in September, but not yet proclaimed. 

These clauses relate to the admissions and language policy of schools and to which there’s fierce opposition from some GNU partners, most notably the Democratic Alliance (DA) and Freedom Front Plus. 

On Wednesday, DA leader John Steenhuisen took umbrage at President Cyril Ramaphosa referring to Russia as an ally and friend of South Africa, saying such assertions should be discussed with GNU partners first before being presented as the view of the new government.