‘The minister declared war on black people’: Why Cosas wants Gwarube axed

The Congress of South African Students (Cosas) says it will put pressure on President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube. The ANC-affiliated students’ organisation held a media briefing in Johannesburg on Tuesday. Its secretary-general, Onesongo Matikinca, said Gwarube is not willing to implement the controversial Basic Education Amendment Laws (Bela) Act. This Act was promulgated in September 2024. But Gwarube has expressed concerns about implementing the Act in its entirety – especially clauses 4 and 5. These clauses are related to school admissions and language policies. “The president had more reason to fire the minister the day he signed the Bela Act because the minister declared war on black people the day she decided not to even attend that signing. “She declared war on black people when she said I am not going to attend the signing of an Act that is going to ensure that [the] majority of black children in townships, the majority of black children in villages, are going to get free admission to schools and will be given equal opportunities to learn just like the ones who stay in suburbs, in privileged areas,” he said. Mobilisation of young people Matikinca said his organisation will mobilise young people to ensure that Gwarube is removed. “Cosas has a fully fledged programme of action that will be based on demonstrations, marches that will ensure that the president gets enough pressure to remove the minister.” Matikinca described the adoption of the Bela Act as law as a “triumph” for the Department of Basic Education in addressing equality issues. “This is a political issue because what they want to achieve is that the 2029 elections should come without the Act being implemented; then they will superimpose themselves on the public as if they are people that will serve the interests of the black child. “And if it so happens that the ANC does not perform so well in those elections, the DA is going to impose its own policies,” he said. Bela regulations Matikinca said Gwarube has no right to place regulations on the implementation of the Bela Act. “We are surprised by this behaviour because these things are happening under the president’s nose and the president sits idly by doing nothing about them. A regulation cannot be given to an adopted legislative policy; Parliament has passed the Bela Bill, it was converted to an Act by virtue of that. It needs to be implemented,” he said. Matikinca said the Act itself had timeframes about when certain clauses should be implemented. “It’s close to a year now; there is nothing happening under admissions.” The Citizen has reached out to the Department of Basic education for comment, including Gwarube’s spokesperson, Lukhanyo Vanqa. Both comments will be added to this article once received.