In the 2019 election, SAHomeschoolers wrote a guide on the manifestos of the various political parties from the perspective of home education. This article can be viewed at 2019 Election Guide

As the parties are releasing their manifestos, the same will be done for the 2024. The following questions will be answered using the party manifestos:

1. Does the manifesto list education as an election issue?
2. Does the manifesto mention / acknowledge the role of parents in education?
3. Does the manifesto mention home education?
4. Does their manifesto have a plan to fundamentally reform the education sector (in a similar way as the National Health Insurance bill fundamentally reform the health sector), or does it merely propose changes to the current dispensation.
5. What is their plan?
6. Does the party oppose the BELA Bill?

Unfortunately, with the possible exception of the FF+, not one political party has a plan for a new innovative educational dispensation that can give home educators hope for the future. As is usually the case, the choice is between the least worst between bad alternatives.

ACDP

1. Yes, chapter 10 is about "Education and Skills development".
2. Yes, because it views parents as "central to the education of their children" and promotes changes to the constitution to protect parental rights.
3. Yes, and it proposes the repeal of home education provisions from the BELA Bill.
4. The manifesto does not propose significant changes to the regulatory framework. Although it advocates that certain rights are protected, it does not propose a significantly new dispensation.
5. The manifesto proposes things like repealing BELA Bill provisions on home education & rural schools, review of CSE curriculum and various other things.
6. Yes party opposed the BELA Bill in the National Assembly.

ActionSA

1. Yes, one of the priority intervention areas is "Quality Education for all".
2. Yes, to an extent because it has initiatives to "...further facilitate parental reading initiatives to empower parents..." and "Offer numerical skills development support to parents to empower them to help their children develop numerical skills."
3. The manifesto does not mention home education.
4. Yes, to a certain extent, because it proposes major reforms such as merging basic education and higher education as well introducing a volutary year of service.
5. It proposes curriculum reform, vocational education and more teacher support.
6. Yes party opposed the BELA Bill in the National Assembly.

Al Jama-Ah

1. Yes, section 9 has the heading "We offer quality education to all"
2. No, parents are not mentioned in section 9, or the rest of the document.
3. No. The statement "Guaranteeing that every child has access to well-resourced public educational institutions" could be interpreted as being hostile towards education outside public institutions.
4. The manifesto does not propose significant changes to the education dispensation.
5. The manifesto articulates a number of ambitions, but does not give details on how these ambitions can be realised.
6. The party does not have a seat in parliament.

ANC

1. Yes. The manifesto lists 6 priorities. One of the points under Priority 4 is "Improve education and skills". Therefore education seems to be a part of an election issue.
2. Yes, under priority section the statement is made that the ANC will "Strengthen the role of families in supporting both young and older citizens, giving special attention to the responsibilities of the family in raising children." These words acknowledge the responsibility of families in raising children, which is positive.
3. The manifesto does not mention home education.
4. The manifesto does not propose a new dispensation but rather entrenches the current dispensation.
5. The ANC plan for education is the implementation of the BELA Bill which is about centralising the power over education.
6. No, the party supported the BELA Bill in the National Assembly (NA) as well as the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).

BOSA

1. Yes, chapter 5 is about reforming education for jobs.
2. Apart from being viewed as being in a partnership with teachers to decide on appropriate measures to maintain discipline, the manifesto does not recognise the role of parents.
3. It does not mention home education.
4. Yes, the plan does introduce a new entity of an education ombud that can hold government accountable.
5. The plan is to reform education by raising standards, investing in programmes, infrastructure incentives and increasing salaries.
6. The party does not have a seat in parliament.

Change Starts Now

1. No, it does not have a separate section on education. It does have a section on Early Childhood Development (ECD) that motivates the expansion of access to ECD.
2. Apart for mentioning more parenting support as part of the expansion of ECD, it does not mention parents. It seems as if they view parents as people that need support, and not as people who's inputs must be considered.
3. It does not mention home education.
4. It does not really have a plan on education.
5. It does not really have a plan on education.
6. The party does not have a seat in parliament.

COPE

1. Yes, it is one of the 46 sections in the manifesto.
2. Parents are required to "support their children's education" and receive ongoing education on AI and also "parents who have the means must pay school fees or volunteer their services to make schools functional." There is however no mention of parents having a say in the education of their children.
3. It does not mention home education.
4. No, the policy does promote any fundamental reform.
5. The manifesto promotes the devolution of powers to parents and the private sector, and that that provinces could have more power to determine the curriculum and the introduction of morning assemblies.
6. From the record it is not clear whether COPE supported the bill.

DA

1. Yes, it has a dedicated chapter on education.
2. It does not acknowledge a real role for parents in education. It does commit to provide certain information to parents, for example time allocation in the curriculum, results of literacy tests, test results and school evaluation reports. It also gives parent communities the opportunity to opt for mother language education. However, nowhere does it acknowledge the obligations of parents to guide and direct the education of their children and requires input from parents.
3. It does not mention home education, nor does it advocate making provision in law for a diversity of new educational modalities, except for the collaborative schools. However in collaborative schools, the inputs of parents can often be diluted.
4. The is no mention fundamental reform. The focus is on improving the current dispensation.
5. In essence, the focus of the education plan is to improve the school system through more monitoring, assessments, internet access and changing of focus.
6. Yes, the party opposed the BELA Bill in the NA and in the NCOP. However the DA governed Western Cape government supports the home education measures in the BELA Bill.

EFF

1. Yes, it has a dedicated chapter on education.
2. No. Although it does mention parents only once in the sentence "The EFF government will criminalize all parents who do not take their children to school."This statement does not acknowledge that parents have any role to play in education, except for sending their children to school.
3. It does not mention home education.
4. The policy does not propose a new dispensation, but dramatically entrenching the system of state control with means such as criminalising parents.
5. The plan of the EFF is purely based on government providing everything related to education. Almost every statement of the education plan starts with "The EFF government will ..."
6. No, the party supported the BELA Bill in the National Assembly (NA) as well as the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).

GOOD

1. Yes, education is part of the "Social Justice" pillar of its policy.
2. No, the word "parent" is not mentioned in the manifesto.
3. It does not mention home education.
4. The manifesto does not propose a new dispensation but entrenches the current through increased state funding in education.
5. It merely proposes increasing state funding including "free tertiary education".
6. The party does not have a seat in parliament.

IFP

1. Yes, it has a dedicated chapter on education.
2. Yes. One of its promises are : "Promote the involvement of engaged parents ...".
3. It does not mention home education. However it seems to leave an opening for this with the promise : "Ensure concurrence of powers and functions between the national and provincial spheres of Government. Provinces and local communities should be allowed to develop an education dispensation and school model best suited to their own needs."
4. No, it entrenches the current dispensation through the provision of state sponsored quality education.
5. It proposes to improve the current dispensation through more state spending, stricter regulations and changing of priorities.
6. No, the party supported the BELA Bill in the NA.

MK Party

1. Yes, it has a dedicated section with the title "1. On Education policy, we will:"
2. No, parents are not mentioned in the section on education.
3. It does not mention home education.
4. No, it entrenches the current dispensation through the provision of state sponsored quality education.
5. It proposes the state providing free compulsory education, including meals
6. The party does not have a seat in parliament.

Patriotic Alliance

1. No, education is not part of the turnaround strategy, but is one of the broader discussion points.
2. No. It seeks solutions in increased state oversight over teachers and principals, but not in parental involvement
3. It does not mention home education.
4. No, it proposes no legislative reform 
5. It proposes the reduction of union influence and setting performance criteria for principles.
6. The party does not have a seat in parliament.

Rise Mzansi

1. Yes, it has a section with the title "Architecting basic education reform"
2. No, the word "parent" is not mentioned in the manifesto.
3. No, the word "home education" does not appear in the manifesto.
4. The manifesto proposes a roadmap for reform, but this does not include any fundamental reforms to the current dispensation.
5. It proposes making bilingual education and civic education compulsory and eradicating pit latrines.
6. The party does not have a seat in parliament.

VF+

1. Yes, there is a chapter on "Accessible, Quality Education as cornerstone."
2. Yes, because it promotes a "parent- and community-driven mother-tongue education". It also promotes a voucher system where parents are in charge.
3. Yes, and it proposes that they can register without any permission.
4. Yes, the manifesto proposes a new education dispensation that includes community councils and an independent regulator.
5. The manifesto proposes the replacement of unions with arbitration bodies, more parental involvement, education vouchers for parents and mother tongue education.
6. Yes, the party opposed the BELA Bill in the NA, but does not have a representative in the NCOP.