In a firm and unified stance, Parliament’s Social Cluster has issued a strong condemnation of threats to block undocumented foreign nationals, particularly children, from accessing schools and healthcare facilities. The warning comes in direct response to Operation Dudula’s promises to target foreign learners without identification documents in the coming school year.
Chairpersons of the Health and Basic Education portfolio committees, alongside the Select Committee on Education, Science, and Creative Industries, addressed the media and stakeholders at Parliament on Thursday. They emphasized that any disruption to education, especially the targeting of vulnerable children, would not be tolerated.
The outspoken criticism was led by Makhi Feni, who did not mince words in his rebuke of Operation Dudula’s planned actions.
“We therefore condemn with the utmost contempt those forms of threats and actions,” Feni stated. “If you’re identifying yourselves as a civil organization, you must be able to understand your footing so that you do not violate the rights that are enshrined in the constitution.”
Dr. Sibongiseni Dhlomo of the Health Portfolio Committee expanded on the practical and humanitarian implications of demanding IDs for access. He pointed out that such a requirement would unfairly punish South African citizens who lose their documents in common tragedies.
“Also know that every time there’s another fire this and that, most of those citizens lose their identifications, their IDs and everything,” Dr. Dhlomo said. “So you’d also be saying to other South Africans ‘you are legitimate South Africans, you only have access into this facility unless and until you produce an ID.’ Doesn’t matter your ID was burnt in the fire last night or last week.”
Beyond the immediate issue of xenophobic threats, the committees also raised significant concerns regarding the recently gazetted regulations for the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act.
Committee member Joy Maimela highlighted a specific issue with one of the two published regulations, which pertains to school admissions policies considering local community demographics. Maimela argued that the regulation, which places the responsibility for admission policy with the head of department, contradicts the core principles of the BELA Act.
“We believe that that is not in line with the essence or the principles of the act,” Maimela said, adding that it “potentially reinforces local demographic homogeneity contrary to the type of inclusivity that the act intended.”
The Department of Basic Education has already faced scrutiny for missing its June deadline to publish all eight of the BELA Act’s regulations. The second regulation that was published involves the implementation of compulsory Grade R.
The combined statements from Parliament signal a dual focus: protecting the constitutional rights of all children to an education while simultaneously holding the government accountable for implementing inclusive and constitutionally sound education policies.