Health and education are too important to be left at the mercy of the state alone: Ayanda Zulu
The Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act and the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act, both passed into law in 2024, represent some of the most far-reaching expansions of state power in post-apartheid South Africa. While presented as reforms meant to improve access to education and healthcare, both Acts undermine individual freedom and reflect a deeper shift toward centralisation and state control.
With BELA, the central issue lies in the erosion of school autonomy, particularly over language and admission policy.
Clauses 4 and 5 empower provincial education departments to override decisions made by school governing bodies regarding admissions and the language of instruction. This effectively opens the door for the state to phase out Afrikaans-medium schools under the guise of “transformation,” while stripping communities of their right to preserve their linguistic and cultural heritage.
Rather than promoting diversity and...
