[lg policy] South Africa: Pretoria student digs defends Afrikaans-only policy

[Harold Schiffman]

Pretoria student digs defends Afrikaans-only policy

   - South Africa
   - Friday 24 March 2017 - 7:10am

File image of the Afrikaans Language Monument, Paarl Photo: via Wikimedia
Commons

PRETORIA - A private dormitory housing white-only Afrikaans-speaking
students attending the University of Pretoria on Thursday defended its
controversial race-based policy and rejected allegations of racism.

Named "De Goede Hoop Koshuis" -- or "The Good Hope Residence" -- the
privately-owned digs opened in February to Christian students who speak
Afrikaans.

Speaking to Radio 702, facility coordinator Janli Sonntag said the aim was
to preserve Christian values and Afrikaans culture, rejecting claims its
policy was discriminative.

She said Afrikaans-speaking students had recently been targeted by other
students on campus over their language and accused of being racist.

The residence, she said, was a place where Afrikaans students could "feel
safe and passionate about their language, not be victimised or mocked,
where they can feel at home."

Sonntag insisted that the residence's policy was not racist and could not
be compared to apartheid.

The residence opened after the University of Pretoria revised its language
policy in October last year, adopting English as the language of
instruction. Previously it had been both English and Afrikaans.

The phasing out of the language spoken by 13.5 percent of South Africa's
population was strongly opposed by Afrikaner groups and students who staged
heated demonstrations on campus against mainly black English speakers.

The protests exposed lingering racial tensions, more than 22 years after
the fall of apartheid.

The residence's policy has sparked outrage, with some calling on social
media for it to be investigated by the South African Human Rights
Commission.

University spokeswoman Candice Jooste said they were aware of the dorm's
existence but had no control over its policy, as it was privately-owned.

"The university does not condone accommodation facilities that use race as
a selection criterion," she told AFP.

https://www.enca.com/south-africa/pretoria-student-digs-defends-afrikaans-only-policy


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