<div dir="ltr"><h1>Afrikaans is not under threat – MEC</h1><div class=""><span class=""><a href="http://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/news">dailynews/news</a></span><span> / </span><div class=""><div class="">2016-06-03T05:46</div></div></div><span class=""><i>By:</i><span> </span><b>Tebogo Monama</b></span><div class=""><div itemprop="articleBody"><p>Pretoria
- With just two weeks left before the 40th commemoration of the June 16
youth uprisings, AfriForum has cautioned against a repeat of the
“unfortunate” events – this time by the Afrikaner community.</p><p>Speaking
at a debate over the language policy in public schools at an event in
Tembisa on Thursday, AfriForum chief executive Kallie Kriel said: “What
happened in 1976 was unfortunate. There was a backlash against what
happened there, and I would urge the MEC not to make the same mistake,
because there will also be another backlash and another struggle… by
Afrikaans people to ensure there is a future for their children.”</p><p>On June 16, 1976, pupils in Soweto schools protested against the use of Afrikaans as a language of teaching and learning.</p><p>Kriel
was debating with Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi following the
Constitutional Court decision last month which ruled that the department
has a final say on admission policies.</p><p>Responding to Kriel’s 1976
comments, Lesufi said: “It hurts us when people want to undervalue the
costs of apartheid. It hurts if people want to say let bygones be
bygones.</p><p>"You come here and say 1976 was unfortunate; move on. Who
has the right to tell us to move on? I don’t want to start a race war.”</p><p>Lesufi
talked about how he was arrested by the apartheid police when he was 17
and spent time in Modderbee Prison. “You walk through this township and
see our people who chose to be homeless, unemployed or to stay in a
shack so you can stay in your own house.</p><p>"We didn’t say we want to
repossess your houses because you put us where we are. So please don’t
even try to attack our commitment to a non-racial society. We have paid a
heavy price for that.”</p><p>Lesufi said he wanted to assure the Afrikaans community that the department was not targeting their language.</p><p>Kriel
said the organisation was worried that if Afrikaans-medium schools,
which make up only 2.5 percent of all schools, were turned into dual or
English-medium schools, the quality of learning and teaching would
decline.</p><p>“Even if these schools Anglicise, it would not ensure
quality education for everyone. By not allowing Afrikaans children to
learn in their mother tongue, that is the same mistake that was made in
1976, and shouldn’t be made again.</p><p>"There are some things in life worth campaigning for and fighting for, and Afrikaans is definitely one of those.”</p><p>Kriel
argued that the biggest problem was that 80 percent of schools were
dysfunctional because of interference by the South African Democratic
Teachers Union.</p><p>Lesufi said AfriForum could not argue about the
standard of education declining as they always leave the schools when
black pupils are admitted.</p><p>He also said predominantly
black-populated schools were dysfunctional and didn’t have resources
because of underfunding during apartheid.</p><p>He said that in 1982, the government spent R1 211 on one white pupil and R146 on a black one.</p><p>“Those
who separated our education system must know that it will not be
forever. You might have oppressed our grandparents and succeeded; you
might have oppressed our parents and succeeded.</p><p>"Do you think
you’ll oppress us? No. You’ll never succeed. You think you’ll undermine
the future of our children? No, you will never succeed,” Lesufi said. He
said the Afrikaans community were only interested in protecting their
territory by not wanting to open their schools.</p><p>“I don’t want schools for <em>klein baases</em>
alone. We will never allow that. If I was malicious, I would have an
audit in all the Afrikaans schools, most of the children live 5km
outside the radius. If I want to dismantle those schools I can do it. Do
I do that? No, because I protect you.”</p><p>Kriel argued that Lesufi
was using transformation and diversity as a guise to target Afrikaners.
He said: “The MEC uses all these nice terms, but when you listen to him,
he says ‘You oppressed our grandparents’. Who is the ‘you’ you are
speaking of? It seems you want vengeance. Your government has been in
power for 22 years.</p><p>"Whose fault is it that you go in class and
find no teacher in the front? Afrikaans schools are soft targets while
they make up only 2.2 percent of schools, and that is unfortunate
because you are becoming a barrier to access to quality education to
black children as well if you are focusing on the wrong target.”</p><p>Lesufi
invited Kriel to go into Afrikaans communities in the next few months
to assure them that their language and culture are not under threat.</p><p><a href="http://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/news/afrikaans-is-not-under-threat--mec-2029884">http://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/news/afrikaans-is-not-under-threat--mec-2029884</a><br></p></div></div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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