[lg policy] South Africa: UFS Wins Leave to Appeal Language Matter

Harold Schiffman hfsclpp at gmail.com
Wed Sep 14 14:57:33 UTC 2016


South Africa: UFS Wins Leave to Appeal Language Matter

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   <http://allafrica.com/stories/201609140165.html>

The High Court in Bloemfontein has granted the University of the Free State
(UFS) leave to appeal its ruling in favour of civil rights group
AfriForum's bid to stop a proposed change to the university's language
policy.

Deputy Judge President Fikile Mokgohloa said leave to appeal was granted on
condition that the application for leave for direct access to the
Constitutional Court is refused.

She said in the meantime university management should put its plans on hold
as the matter was currently before the courts.

"The judgment of this court delivered on [July 21] remains in force and is
in operation pending the finalisation of the appeals," she said.

The university on Monday argued that the High Court had erred in their
decision in July.

Jeremy Gauntlett SC, representing the university, told a full bench of
judges that AfriForum failed to establish the absence of irreparable harm
on the part of the university and the vast majority of its current and
prospective students.

*Campus culture*

"The court was wrong in their decision. [It] was wrong when they said there
was no case of compulsory segregation... another court would come with a
different conclusion."

University management has applied to both the Supreme Court of Appeal and
the Constitutional Court for leave to appeal.

Gauntlett said in its ruling the court didn't reference their heads of
arguments. "There were persistent complaints from students about campus
culture and that they do not feel welcome."

However, Johan du Toit SC, representing AfriForum, said justice should be
done for students who have already registered in their mother tongue.

"UFS students are exposed to unity and diversity and Afrikaans students
shouldn't struggle."
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In July, the High Court ruled in favour of AfriForum in their bid to stop a
proposed change to the UFS's language policy.

*Constitutional issues*

At the time Judge Fouche Jordaan said: "The fact that English has been
introduced at the UFS, which was a historical Afrikaans university, as a
language of instruction does not mean that Afrikaans must inevitably be
replaced by English as the dominant language of instruction."

In March the university decided to make English the primary medium of
instruction from 2017, while providing sufficient scope for multilingualism
across the university.

Jordaan said the UFS council did not consider constitutional issues
involved in the decision on the new language policy.

He said while Afrikaans might be a barrier to black students, English was a
barrier to many coloured students who had been victims of past
discrimination. A move that decreased the Afrikaans offering would
negatively affect them.

The university's council said English would be the primary medium of
instruction at undergraduate and postgraduate level on the three campuses
in Bloemfontein and QwaQwa.

Multilingualism would be supported by an expanded tutorial system designed
for first-year students.

In professional programmes the parallel-medium teaching in English,
Afrikaans, Sesotho and isiZulu would continue. These included teacher
education and the training of theology students who wished to enter the
ministry in traditional Afrikaans-speaking churches, where there was a
clear market need.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201609130455.html


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