POLICY CHANGES: Gwarube opens public comment on new Bela Act school regulations

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube has released three draft regulations and a notice under the Bela Act for public comment. The proposals introduce electronic voting for school governing bodies, strict financial controls on extra teacher compensation, and a new national education database.

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube has published three sets of draft regulations and a related draft notice under the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act for public comment as the government continues implementing the legislation.

The four implementation instruments deal with the election and functioning of School Governing Bodies (SGBs), additional remuneration for certain state employees, minimum standards for teacher development facilities, and the National Education Information System.

A 30-day public comment window has opened, closing on 5 September 2026, at 23:59, allowing parents, teachers, learners, school governing bodies, education organisations, unions, faith-based organisations, civil society and all South Africans interested to scrutinise the proposals and make submissions before any regulations are finalised.

“The Bela Act is law, and its implementation is continuing. Our responsibility is to ensure that implementation is lawful, responsible and workable, and that the schools, governing bodies and education officials who must give effect to the law have clear and practical guidance,” Gwarube said.

“Public consultation is an important part of that process. These draft regulations and the related notice will support greater certainty and consistency across the sector, while giving the sector a meaningful opportunity to help improve the proposals before they are finalised.”

To establish a consistent national framework, the draft Notice Relating to the Election of Members of Governing Bodies outlines a three-year term limit for SGB members. It proposes three distinct election methods: traditional in-person meetings, manual voting over a full designated day, or secure electronic voting where appropriate safeguards exist.

For schools choosing the electronic route, the regulations introduce the Candidate Nominations System (CNS system), a secure portal compliant with the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia). E-voting systems must be capable of authenticating parents on the voters roll, preventing multiple votes, and displaying real-time results. To adopt this digital method, schools must first submit a formal readiness assessment to their district office. Once approved, authenticated parents will cast their secret ballots using unique, secure One-Time PINs (OTPs).

To maintain national quality control, the minister of basic education will establish a specialised task team responsible for identifying, vetting and maintaining a centralised registry of approved service providers and e-voting programmes.

To curb informal financial payments, the Department is clamping down on SGB compensation for state-employed staff performing additional school duties.