Presidency says Ramaphosa will issue advisory on BELA Act soon

CAPE TOWN - The Presidency says President Cyril Ramaphosa will issue an advisory in due course on the way forward for the implementation of the Basic Education Amendment Laws (BELA) Act.

Friday marks D-day for parties to have resolved their differences over the contentious BELA Act, but Ramaphosa's office said there's no decision on the next step just yet.

At the centre of the ongoing contention is the use of Afrikaans as the medium of teaching at certain schools.

READ: D-Day for BELA Act consultations

Meanwhile, the South African Democratic Teachers Union said it hopes Ramaphosa heeds the union’s call and implements the entire act.

The deadline was set by Ramaphosa to allow parties time to resolve their difference over clauses 4 and 5 of the act.

Many affected parties made their submissions earlier this week in anticipation of the deadline.

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Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said they will “issue and advisory to indicate the next step”.

While SADTU spokesperson Nomusa Cembi said they’re also just waiting on the president to issue a directive.

"We haven’t received anything yet (from the president) yet we sent a letter earlier in the week on Monday a letter to the president. It was demanding that those two clauses be implemented."

SADTU has also been joined by other Government of National Unity (GNU) partners like the United Democratic Movement, Al Jama-ah and Rise Mzansi who have urged Ramaphosa to implement the entire act without delay.