15 October 2024

Section 6 (1) provides for all the official languages. Afrikaans is one of them. Section 9 (3) prohibits unfair discrimination on numerous grounds including culture and language. Surely this means that the Afrikaans language cannot and should not be unfairly discriminated against? The right to be educated in Afrikaans cannot be ignored or removed.

The BELA Act contains two unconstitutional clauses that can be and would be used to remove the rights of School Governing Bodies to decide on the language medium of schools, and the number of pupils to be admitted to the school. These decisions will be taken by the officials, many of them deployed cadres of the ANC, and the politicians.

Township state schools, to my knowledge, except for the initial classes, all teach through the medium of English. Many of them are grossly overcrowded. Some of them are underused because parents who can afford to do so make the sacrifices necessary to send their children to state schools in the suburbs and towns, especially the so-called Model C schools. Although they are public schools, parents pay through the nose to ensure that their children escape the dead-end education offered in too many township schools where trade union rights of teachers trump the interests of learners.

Nearly 7 million South Africans, 13.5%, are Afrikaans-speaking. Almost 40% of those are white, 50.2% are coloured, 9% are black and 1% are Indian. Despite these figures, only 5% of the 22000 schools in South Africa are Afrikaans medium schools. Those schools are not pure-white or pure-coloured; many of them have pupils from other communities. It is probably fair to say that these Afrikaans medium schools are generally well-run, offering a decent standard of education to their pupils. It is these very schools that will be targeted if BELA remains.

The DA is by far the largest non-racial or multi-racial political organisation in South Africa. It is also dedicated to upholding the values of our Constitution. It is for this reason that the DA is concerned about the language and cultural rights of Afrikaans. It is similarly concerned about the Constitutional rights of every individual South African. In this regard, I recall having made a speech in Parliament 33 years ago where I stated that Afrikaans as an indigenous language would only survive if we developed a determination to protect and promote all languages, including all the indigenous languages. This sentiment found expression in the Constitution and it is why the DA is fighting today to preserve the values of the Constitution.

Why the suspicion, or the certainty, that some provinces will use BELA to strangle Afrikaans? Just look at the record of the ANC leader in Gauteng, Premier Panyaza Lesufi, previously the MEC for Education, who built up a reputation as a foe of the Afrikaans language. In one famous case, he tried to force an Afrikaans school to become an English medium school when two English medium schools in the immediate vicinity were not full. He lost that case in the High Court. But this reputation, and the suspicion, cling to him, Why hand him (unconstitutional) powers to do as he likes?

The attitude of the DA and Minister Siviwe Gwarube is firm, consistent, and determined. The President, to his credit, suspended the operation of the offending clauses for three months for discussions and negotiations to take place. South Africa now awaits the outcome. A successful one will be great for the GNU. A failure will be a heavy weight for the GNU to bear.

Douglas Gibson is a former opposition chief whip and former ambassador to Thailand.

This article first appeared in The Star