<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" align="center">=====================================================<br>
L O W L A N D S - L - 20 October 2010 - Volume 02<br>
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<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">From: "Elsie
Zinsser" <<a href="mailto:ezinsser@mweb.co.za">ezinsser@mweb.co.za</a>></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">Subject: L-L: Media -
Afrikaans under siege in tertiary institutions in South Africa</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">Hi all,</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">The inserted letter appeared
on the Politicsweb site and may be of interest to you.</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">See <a href="http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page72308?oid=205505&sn=Marketingweb+detail&pid=90389" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page72308?oid=205505&sn=Marketingweb+detail&pid=90389</span></a></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">Regards,</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">Elsie Zinsser</p>
<h1 style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; color: black;">SASCO sowing racial discord - AfriForum Youth</span></h1>
<h1 style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></h1>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black;" lang="AF">Ernst Roets </span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black;" lang="AF">18 October 2010 </span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;" lang="AF">Ernst Roets says the ANC student wing is pursuing an
anti-Afrikaans agenda </span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong><span style="color: black;">OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENCY OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN STUDENTS
CONGRESS</span></strong></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong><span style="color: black;">October 18 2010</span></strong></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Dear Mr Mandlana</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Tension between AfriForum Youth and SASCO</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">I write to you in the light of the tension between AfriForum Youth
and SASCO that surfaced at various tertiary institutions in South Africa,
as well as a particular complaint that we received this weekend. The most
important of these institutions are the University
of Pretoria the North
West University, the Grootfontein Agricultural College
and the Tshwane University of Technology.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">As a civil rights organisation, we have received several
complaints about statements by and the conduct of leaders of SASCO. It has also
come to my attention that certain misperceptions about AfriForum Youth are
being propagated by representatives of SASCO. The purpose of this letter is to
bring our concerns to your immediate attention and to clarify certain issues.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In the first place, I should once again mention that AfriForum
Youth is a civil rights student movement with no party-political affiliation
whatsoever. Our purpose is to protect the rights of minority groups on the
campuses of South Africa,
with specific emphasis on the Afrikaans student community.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Our policy is to cooperate with any organisation that supports our
policies, of which the most important are the promotion of mother-language
education and the exemption of the youth from affirmative action. At various
campuses, several incidents occurred that sparked tension between the local
branches of AfriForum Youth and SASCO. I would like to take the opportunity to
discuss these events with you in brief: You will be aware that AfriForum Youth
participated and won the recent student parliament elections at the University of Pretoria.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">After the announcement of the election results, SASCO made a
deliberate attempt to mobilize other student organisations against AfriForum
Youth to exclude AfriForum Youth from the possibility of the presidency and
representation in the SRC. In reaction to this, AfriForum Youth was forced to
form a broad coalition with other organisations in order to protect our own
candidates. Because of this, SASCO was excluded from the SRC completely.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">During the student parliament election at the University of Pretoria,
a SASCO-representative informed us that they had attempted to get approval for
an election poster with the words: <em>Kill the
Boer, kill the farmer.</em></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">At the Grootfontein Agricultural College
in the Eastern Cape,
SASCO demanded the abolishment of Afrikaans as medium of instruction. SASCO
abused its political influence in the ruling party and Government to convince
the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries that the abolishment of
Afrikaans at agricultural colleges is a good idea. Once this decision had been
announced by the Department, AfriForum Youth s local branch was forced to
initiate a stay - at-home student strike, which fortunately resulted in the
withdrawal of the mentioned decision.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">At the Potchefstroom campus of the North West University,
the SASCO branch chairperson chanted the words: Dubulu i Bhunu ( Shoot the
whites ) during a student debate. He also incited students against Afrikaans.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Earlier this year, AfriForum Youth hosted a national youth
conference on the question of peaceful coexistence in South Africa.
Despite the fact that an invitation was directed to the Secretary General of
SASCO, Mr Lazola Ndamase, in person, the conference was boycotted by SASCO.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">At the Tshwane University of Technology, AfriForum Youth recently
put up posters to advertise a meeting with the purpose of establishing a local
branch. The next day, we found that many of these posters had been torn down. A
member of AfriForum Youth informed us that the posters had been ripped off by
members of SASCO.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">On the 4th of August 2010, during a press conference hosted by
SASCO, AfriForum Youth was accused of being a racist organization. Provincial
Secretary, Chabana Chabana, said that AfriForum is attempting to convince
liberal white South Africans to believe that black people are animals who
should be locked up in cages and sent to prison. On the 5 th of August 2O1O, I
personally responded to this by writing to you, requesting a meeting to discuss
these allegations, but you were not prepared to discuss your statements with us.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">During the recent student parliament election at the University of Pretoria, candidates of AfriForum Youth
found members of SASCO openly ripping off and damaging AfriForum Youth s
election posters. I myself was on the scene with our candidates and when we
confronted the SASCO members, they chanted racist slogans and threatened to
assault me personally, as well as one of the lecturers who tried to stop them.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The latest issue concerns a SASCO election poster that has been
brought to my attention. The wording of the poster is as follows:</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><em><span style="color: black;">A vote for SASCO is a vote for ANC and</span></em><i><span style="color: black;"><br>
<em>a vote for anc [sic] is a vote for Julius </em><br>
<em>MALEMA </em><br>
<em>One Boer one bullet </em><br>
<em>Viva Julius malema [sic] viva!!! </em><br>
<em>Students please vote for SASCO 1OO% </em><br>
<em>BLACKS ONLY ORGANISATION </em><br>
<em>(STRICTLY SOUTH AFRICANS) </em><br>
<em>Amandla!!</em></span></i></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The contents of this poster amounts to racism in its worst form.
Not only does it incite racial violence and murder, it is also xenophobic and
may lead one to conclude that, according to SASCO, whites are not South
Africans.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">AfriForum Youth is an organisation that believes in constructive
discussions and debate. However, certain conduct and statements of SASCO
leaders, and particularly the abovementioned poster, is totally unacceptable
and cannot be justified in any way. With this letter, I kindly request feedback
on whether this poster amounts to a true reflection of SASCO’s policy. If not,
I hope that you will agree with me that proper disciplinary action should be
taken.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">I await your response eagerly. Kind regards</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Ernst Roets <br>
National Chairperson <br>
AfriForum Youth <br>
<a href="mailto:ernst@afriforum.co.za" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">ernst@afriforum.co.za</span></a></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Issued by AfriForum Youth, October 18 2010. Transcribed from the
PDF.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"> </p>
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