LL-L "Language politics" 2010.10.20 (02) [EN]

Wed Oct 20 18:32:14 UTC 2010

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L O W L A N D S - L - 20 October 2010 - Volume 02
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From: "Elsie Zinsser" <ezinsser at mweb.co.za>

Subject: L-L: Media - Afrikaans under siege in tertiary institutions in
South Africa

Hi all,

The inserted letter appeared on the Politicsweb site and may be of interest
to you.

See
http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page72308?oid=205505&sn=Marketingweb+detail&pid=90389

Regards,

Elsie Zinsser
  SASCO sowing racial discord - AfriForum Youth

Ernst Roets

18 October 2010

Ernst Roets says the ANC student wing is pursuing an anti-Afrikaans agenda

*OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENCY OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN STUDENTS CONGRESS*

*October 18 2010*

Dear Mr Mandlana

Tension between AfriForum Youth and SASCO

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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: *Kill the Boer, kill the farmer.*

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The latest issue concerns a SASCO election poster that has been brought to
my attention. The wording of the poster is as follows:

*A vote for SASCO is a vote for ANC and**
a vote for anc [sic] is a vote for Julius
MALEMA
One Boer one bullet
Viva Julius malema [sic] viva!!!
Students please vote for SASCO 1OO%
BLACKS ONLY ORGANISATION
(STRICTLY SOUTH AFRICANS)
Amandla!!*

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.

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.

I await your response eagerly. Kind regards

Ernst Roets
National Chairperson
AfriForum Youth
ernst at afriforum.co.za

Issued by AfriForum Youth, October 18 2010. Transcribed from the PDF.

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