<div dir="ltr"><h1 class="single-headline">
Afrikaans school wins admissions court spat </h1>
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Ilse de Lange </div>
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<img src="https://citizen.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/01/court.png?x68991" alt="VOICING THEIR FRUSTRATIONS. Parents of pupils who will not be accepted at Höerskool Overvaal are seen lashing out in the High Court in Pretoria
yesterday where the court set aside the decision by the Gauteng department of education to admit 55 pupils to be taught in English at the Afrikaans
school. Picture: Jacques Nelles" class="img-responsive">
<p class="wp-caption-text">
VOICING THEIR FRUSTRATIONS. Parents of pupils who will not be
accepted at Höerskool Overvaal are seen lashing out in the High Court in
Pretoria
yesterday where the court set aside the decision by the Gauteng
department of education to admit 55 pupils to be taught in English at
the Afrikaans
school. Picture: Jacques Nelles </p>
</div>
<h2 class="single-excerpt">
The judge found that according to objective
evidence, Overvaal was already full by the time they were ordered to
accept the additional pupils. </h2>
<p>The parents of 55 English-speaking pupils
reacted angrily to a ruling by the High Court in Pretoria setting aside
the Gauteng education department’s bid to force Afrikaans Höerskool
Overvaal in Vereeniging to admit them.</p>
<p>They waved their fists at the Afrikaans parents of the school, vowing
they would not allow “these racists” to open the school tomorrow, when
the new teaching year starts, and threatening to burn it down.</p>
<p>Judge Bill Prinsloo ruled yesterday that a December 5 directive to
the school from the Sedibeng East district education director stating
that tomorrow it must admit an additional 55 English-speaking pupils and
become a dual-medium of instruction school on short notice was
unlawful.</p>
<p>He also found that the district director, Criselda Makhubela, was
clearly biased and had attempted to defeat the ends of justice by, in
effect, bullying the principals of two neighbouring English schools to
recant their evidence under oath that their schools had space for these
pupils.</p>
<p>In her affidavit, Makhubela referred to Afrikaans as a separatist language that caused sorrow and tears.</p>
<p>The judge said it was difficult to see how one could expect her to be
unbiased towards the school in the light of those sentiments.</p>
<p>He granted a punitive costs order against the head of the Gauteng education department and the district education director.</p>
<p>The judge found that according to objective evidence, Overvaal was
already full by the time they were ordered to accept the additional
pupils.</p>
<p>He also found that the neighbouring English Phoenix High School and
General Smuts High School did, in fact, have places for them.</p>
<p>The judge said the district director could not just ride roughshod
over the school’s language policy by dictating that the school must
become dual-medium overnight and in circumstances where there was no
space for the extra pupils.</p>
<p>Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi referred to the school as
racist, saying it was opposed to transformation and that its stance was
depriving children of their constitutional right to education.</p>
<p>However, he called for calm and asked the English-speaking pupils’ parents not to take the law into their own hands.</p>
<p>He said the school’s victory would be short-lived, as the department would definitely appeal the ruling.</p>
<p>Panyaza added that the Gauteng education department would take the
matter to the Constitutional Court to see if it “would agree with these
racists”.<span class="sewp0tl8psdrgby"></span><span class="sewwx1ml9q3n1s"></span></p>
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<div class="single-byline">
Ilse de Lange </div>
<div class="single-img">
<img src="https://citizen.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2018/01/court.png?x68991" alt="VOICING THEIR FRUSTRATIONS. Parents of pupils who will not be accepted at Höerskool Overvaal are seen lashing out in the High Court in Pretoria
yesterday where the court set aside the decision by the Gauteng department of education to admit 55 pupils to be taught in English at the Afrikaans
school. Picture: Jacques Nelles" class="img-responsive">
<p class="wp-caption-text">
VOICING THEIR FRUSTRATIONS. Parents of pupils who will not be
accepted at Höerskool Overvaal are seen lashing out in the High Court in
Pretoria
yesterday where the court set aside the decision by the Gauteng
department of education to admit 55 pupils to be taught in English at
the Afrikaans
school. Picture: Jacques Nelles </p>
</div>
<h2 class="single-excerpt">
The judge found that according to objective
evidence, Overvaal was already full by the time they were ordered to
accept the additional pupils. </h2>
<p>The parents of 55 English-speaking pupils
reacted angrily to a ruling by the High Court in Pretoria setting aside
the Gauteng education department’s bid to force Afrikaans Höerskool
Overvaal in Vereeniging to admit them.</p>
<p>They waved their fists at the Afrikaans parents of the school, vowing
they would not allow “these racists” to open the school tomorrow, when
the new teaching year starts, and threatening to burn it down.</p>
<p>Judge Bill Prinsloo ruled yesterday that a December 5 directive to
the school from the Sedibeng East district education director stating
that tomorrow it must admit an additional 55 English-speaking pupils and
become a dual-medium of instruction school on short notice was
unlawful.</p>
<p>He also found that the district director, Criselda Makhubela, was
clearly biased and had attempted to defeat the ends of justice by, in
effect, bullying the principals of two neighbouring English schools to
recant their evidence under oath that their schools had space for these
pupils.</p>
<p>In her affidavit, Makhubela referred to Afrikaans as a separatist language that caused sorrow and tears.</p>
<p>The judge said it was difficult to see how one could expect her to be
unbiased towards the school in the light of those sentiments.</p>
<p>He granted a punitive costs order against the head of the Gauteng education department and the district education director.</p>
<p>The judge found that according to objective evidence, Overvaal was
already full by the time they were ordered to accept the additional
pupils.</p>
<p>He also found that the neighbouring English Phoenix High School and
General Smuts High School did, in fact, have places for them.</p>
<p>The judge said the district director could not just ride roughshod
over the school’s language policy by dictating that the school must
become dual-medium overnight and in circumstances where there was no
space for the extra pupils.</p>
<p>Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi referred to the school as
racist, saying it was opposed to transformation and that its stance was
depriving children of their constitutional right to education.</p>
<p>However, he called for calm and asked the English-speaking pupils’ parents not to take the law into their own hands.</p>
<p>He said the school’s victory would be short-lived, as the department would definitely appeal the ruling.</p>
<p>Panyaza added that the Gauteng education department would take the
matter to the Constitutional Court to see if it “would agree with these
racists”.<span class="sewp0tl8psdrgby"></span><span class="sewwx1ml9q3n1s"></span></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
</div>