It seems as if a vital part of President Cyril Ramaphosa's anatomy — long considered conspicuously absent by his critics — has arrived just in time for Christmas.
Ramaphosa on Friday announced that the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act would be fully implemented, signing a presidential proclamation to that effect.
Vital to the transformation of the education system in SA, Ramaphosa said he had delayed the implementation of the act for three months to give parties time to deliberate and make proposals on how the divergent views might be accommodated, in the spirit of co-operation and meaningful engagement.
On the topic of divergent views, earlier this week Ramaphosa said the country's first national dialogue will be held next year.
“Despite the achievements of the past 30 years, South Africa continues to face significant challenges on its journey towards reconciliation,” he said on Monday to mark Reconciliation Day. These included corruption, crime, unemployment, poverty and land reform which would be tackled in the upcoming national dialogue.
“We will also want the national dialogue to address pressing challenges such as gender-based violence and femicide, social fragmentation, racism, homophobia and sexism, violence and instability.”
He also urged South Africans to play their part in ensuring the country's presidency of the G20 for the next year is a success.
“All of us as a nation now become the president of the G20. We become important people in the world and the world will be looking at us as South Africa.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.