Dear Friends,

As a former MP who served you on the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education I am aware of the many procedural errors that occurred in the processing of the BELA Bill. The Bill is also substantively flawed with a number of clauses that are unconstitutional. BELA Bill is now with the President awaiting his signature. The President can refer the Bill back to Parliament (the National Assembly) if he believes it is constitutionally unsound and I am writing to him asking him to do so.

You can read the full letter HERE.

Without Listening to the People – No BELA Bill. Parliament didn’t listen to the people. The main reason parliament didn’t listen to the people is that the written and oral submissions were not placed in a comprehensive document that summarized those submissions. This is normally called a matrix. I asked again and again for a detailed “matrix” or similar document so we could do our work.

Support my letter to the President

The ANC that then dominated the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education tried to silence me and when I could not be silenced they ignored me. We are now living in a new political reality, not only do we have Government of National Unity, that will hopefully listen before we need to waste money, that could go to helping children, on court cases. I, am also, no longer an MP and I need your voice to help me ensure the President takes note of why the BELA Bill is flawed. That he refuses to sign it into law and sends it back to the National Assembly to ensure proper public participation.

They didn’t hear your voice, they ignored my voice, I ask you to ensure we are now all heard.

I have sent my letter to the President, I now need your support to show the President that the flaws in BELA Bill can’t be hidden because the public is aware of them.

You can use the form below to support my letter to the President. When you fill this form in and press submit an e-mail in your name will automatically be sent to the President by my new organisation, Voice To Parliament.

The text of the letter is below:

Letter to the President

Dear President Ramaphosa,

I urge you to take note of former MP Marie Suker’s letter. She was at the coalface in the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education and knows what the flaws in the BELA Bill are. If you sign the Bill you will simply inviting a court battle that will waste money and see the Bill returned to the National Assembly. I urge you to short cut this process, that will just cost Parliament and the Department of Basic Education money, and not sign the Bill and return it to Parliament to ensure all procedural and substantive flaws are addressed.

As an MP who sat on the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, she has stated clearly she could not apply her mind properly to the Bill because the committee never received a matrix or similar detailed summary of the public’s comments before the clause-by-clause deliberations started.

As you will see when watching the clause-by-clause deliberations, she was one of the most engaged MPs. If she could not apply her mind, then no MP could.

Along with the failure to produce proper documentation the BELA Bill process was procedurally flawed at every stage.

There are also numerous substantive flaws:

Clause 37, that gives the Minister power to make regulations on learner pregnancy does not provide sufficient detail for a constitutionally sound delegation of power. Parliament is giving the Minister a blank cheque to do what she wants.

Clause 25 allows for the unconstitutional closure of small schools without reasons being given. This violates the right to just administrative action and harks back to the arbitrary exercise of power by officials under Apartheid.

Clause 35 on home schooling completely ignores the views of the home schooling community, which the committee ignored while selectively acting on the submissions of the public, on, for example, alcohol.

Please refuse to sign the BELA Bill and send it back to Parliament.

Kind Regards,

Message from our Founder

The communities in our cities, and rural areas have experienced slow degradation under a sluggish and unresponsive State. This crisis and failure of political leadership marks the critical need for Christian democracy.

In the words of Evangelist Billy Graham, “we are not where we ought to be, but thank God we are not where we used to be”. This is true for our nation, for we as a people of all races, suffered the collective damage of apartheid on our psyche. As a coloured woman of mixed heritage, my family suffered economic hardship, political disenfranchisement and social segregation for over three generations. But I was raised by a mother who saw herself as capable to survive and who demanded respect even from those who economically held power over her. I was raised on a farm, and we had to address the owner as “Baas”, but my mother had a way of carrying herself that taught me as a child to never stand down on principles of humanity and respect. That you can be economical deprived, but morally strong as a human being. “Poverty is not an excuse”, was a mantra I heard for everything from it not being an excuse for a dirty house to having a bad character. In her house you had to rise early, work hard and stand your ground when the situation called for it! For my mother the greatest sin was to be too cowardly to speak the truth “straight talking is not insulting” was a favorite saying! You have to speak the truth no matter how costly, and stand your ground even if you are outnumbered. My mother demanded respect for herself and other people under very difficult social and political circumstances. Magdaleen Rex was a petite woman, but she stood her ground, and lived that example throughout my childhood.

As Christians we must fight for the principles of our faith with the weapon of democracy. We must advocate, promote and advance principles of justice not only for ourselves but for every South African. We cannot be like a lame duck in approach, apathetic in attitude and non-commital in conduct. The protagonists are rising around us, where ethnicity and tribalism contribute to greater polarisation that is a threat to democracy.

The Christian warrior lives by the creed of our faith: obedience to God, and justice for all, to obtain a peaceful society for all.
There is a generation watching us, and whose future is dependent on wether we win or lose the fight for Christian democracy.

My promise is to be your voice, to advocate, promote and advance the cause of Christian democracy through being your voice to parliament. We will work with communities from the Karoo to the Cape Flats to show government what is possible. It is my hope that we can partner together to work as individuals, and communities to create the South Africa of our dreams. A nation for all her people, under the African Sun!

Voice to Parliament is a vehicle to continue the fight for the principles we hold dear! A platform to engage our elected representatives and political parties. To ensure the voices of ordinary South Africans are heard in the halls of power.

Marie Sukers

Dear Friends,

I have decided to start Voice to Parliament as an extension of my commitment to the cause of Christian democracy. It is my firm belief that the principles of our Christian-Judeo worldview are the answer to the challenges of our time. Both in South Africa and the world. Our vision is to create real change in people’s lives by putting the principles of Christian Democracy into practice. 

Our nation South Africa, has been through over a decade of systematic decline in governance in all spheres of government.

The communities in our cities, and rural areas have experienced slow degradation under a sluggish and unresponsive State. This crisis and failure of political leadership marks the critical need for Christian democracy.

In the words of Evangelist Billy Graham, “we are not where we ought to be, but thank God we are not where we used to be”. This is true for our nation, for we as a people of all races, suffered the collective damage of apartheid on our psyche. As a coloured woman of mixed heritage, my family suffered economic hardship, political disenfranchisement and social segregation for over three generations. But I was raised by a mother who saw herself as capable to survive and who demanded respect even from those who economically held power over her. I was raised on a farm, and we had to address the owner as “Baas”, but my mother had a way of carrying herself that taught me as a child to never stand down on principles of humanity and respect. That you can be economical deprived, but morally strong as a human being. “Poverty is not an excuse”, was a mantra I heard for everything from it not being an excuse for a dirty house to having a bad character. In her house you had to rise early, work hard and stand your ground when the situation called for it! For my mother the greatest sin was to be too cowardly to speak the truth “straight talking is not insulting” was a favorite saying! You have to speak the truth no matter how costly, and stand your ground even if you are outnumbered. My mother demanded respect for herself and other people under very difficult social and political circumstances. Magdaleen Rex was a petite woman, but she stood her ground, and lived that example throughout my childhood.

As Christians we must fight for the principles of our faith with the weapon of democracy. We must advocate, promote and advance principles of justice not only for ourselves but for every South African. We cannot be like a lame duck in approach, apathetic in attitude and non-commital in conduct. The protagonists are rising around us, where ethnicity and tribalism contribute to greater polarisation that is a threat to democracy.

The Christian warrior lives by the creed of our faith: obedience to God, and justice for all, to obtain a peaceful society for all.
There is a generation watching us, and whose future is dependent on wether we win or lose the fight for Christian democracy.

My promise is to be your voice, to advocate, promote and advance the cause of Christian democracy through being your voice to parliament. We will work with communities from the Karoo to the Cape Flats to show government what is possible. It is my hope that we can partner together to work as individuals, and communities to create the South Africa of our dreams. A nation for all her people, under the African Sun!

Voice to Parliament is a vehicle to continue the fight for the principles we hold dear! A platform to engage our elected representatives and political parties. To ensure the voices of ordinary South Africans are heard in the halls of power.

Marie Sukers