Jansen’s successor should restore ties with Afrikaans community – Solidarity 

16 May 2016

Trade union Solidarity today expressed the hope that the successor of Professor Jonathan Jansen, current rector of the University of the Free State (UFS), will make an effort to strengthen ties with the Afrikaans community which has played a major part in shaping the university. This follows after the announcement that Professor Jansen will step down on 31 August this year.

Jahni Cowley, sector coordinator of the Professional Industry at Solidarity, believes that over the last number of years, the UFS Board under Jansen’s management has alienated the Afrikaans community, among other things by threatening to abolish Afrikaans as language of instruction. “The Afrikaans culture and character of UFS has played a major part in the success and excellence of the university. In addition, Afrikaans and Afrikaans speaking people have made a huge contribution to the academic integrity of the university. The latter cannot and should not be repudiated,” Cowley said.

Cowley expressed the hope that the appointment of Jansen’s successor will be done with the necessary transparency and respect for the university’s regulations regarding the appointment of rectors. “The onus now rests on the University Board the ensure that Jansen’s successor is qualified to take the university to new heights amidst the prevailing culture of conflict and violence on university campuses, without alienating any language or culture group any further,” Cowley said.

Meanwhile, Solidarity has indicated that, in collaboration with the civil rights organisation, AfriForum, it will continue with the court case against UFS regarding the university’s language policy for 2017.

Issued by Jahni Cowley, Sector Coordinator: Solidarity, 16 May 2016