Dear Minister Gwarube,

Congratulations on your new position. May you find great fulfillment in this incredibly important role!

I understand that you, Minister Gwarube, will be participating in deliberations (with President Ramaphosa) which will focus on the BELA Bill? Regardless of whether the Bill lapses, is sent back to NA or the Constitution Court we ask that you consider the plight of homeschoolers of South Africa!

We are requesting that Clause 35 be removed from the BELA Bill and the South African Schools Act remains as is. In addition to this we ask that all homeschool policies be revised and based on what SASA states, not on what the Policy Document on Home Education currently proposes. The Socio Economic Impact Assessment Guidelines were not followed while the Policy Document on Home Education was drafted. (This has been confirmed by Parliamentary Legal Advisor, Ms.Ngema on 17 August 2023 in Parliament. Recordings of the meeting are available online.) For this reason we believe that the Policy Document on Home Education will lead to impractical policies that do not take the diverse nature of home education into account or consideration.

Many homeschool friendly Countries have implemented sensible homeschooling policies/regulations and have done so successfully. (Successfully = citizens are willing to comply.) I would love sending you research that I did on this? Perhaps South Africa can learn from the provinces in Canada and Australia and certain states in America?

We (the home education community) want to be active participants in any future policy or law making processes. Please consider including us in future deliberation sessions.

Concerned Homeschooler
Stacey van der Walt
0713025733
belabillconcernedcitizen@gmail.com