[lg policy] South Africa: UFS-Afrikaans case: Language, segregation and the Constitution

[Harold Schiffman]

UFS-Afrikaans case: Language, segregation and the Constitution
Jeanette Chabalala, News24 2016-06-20 20:08
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The removal of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction at the University of
Free State was a violation of the Constitution, the Bloemfontein High Court
heard today.

“Afrikaans has a right to survive. This matter is about the supremacy of
the Constitution,” Johan du Toit SC, representing AfriForum, told a full
bench of judges.

In March, the university reached a unanimous decision to make English the
primary medium of instruction from 2017.

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

The council also said that multilingualism would be supported by an
expanded tutorial system especially designed for first-year students. The
council said that in professional programmes – such as 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 – the parallel-medium teaching in English-Afrikaans and Sesotho and
isiZulu would continue.

It also added that the primary formal language of the university
administration would be English, but with sufficient flexibility of
multilingualism across the university.

However, soon after the decision was taken, AfriForum approached the high
court for an interdict against the university.

Advocate Greta Engelbrecht, also representing AfriForum, argued that the
language-policy decision taken by the university was unconstitutional.

“There is a Constitutional issue at stake,” she said. “We should consider
law students who might want to offer their services in Afrikaans ... and
most of the students studying theology preferred Afrikaans.

“They [university] wish to shackle Afrikaans in its historical notion of
oppression.”

However, Jeremy Gauntlett SC, representing the university, said language
had become a surrogate for colour segregation in classes.

“The university has to adopt a position for what is best for its function –
and [it] needs to do what is best for the community,” he said.

Gauntlett also argued that there was a high demand for English and that,
through the implementation of the policy, there would be no job losses at
the university.
Judgment was reserved in the matter

http://city-press.news24.com/News/ufs-afrikaans-case-language-segregation-and-the-constitution-20160620
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