AfriForum welcomes motion of US’ EC, but distrusts intentions of Management

AfriForum has welcomed the motion by the Executive Committee of the Council of Stellenbosch University (SU) which guarantees that the Afrikaans offering at SU will not be diluted in 2016.  The motion was accepted unanimously by the full EC during an extraordinary meeting which took place on Sunday, 15 November 2015.

Alana Bailey, Deputy CEO of AfriForum, stated that in the light of this motion, it is even more difficult to trust the management of SU.  “The controversial statement issued by the Rector’s Management Team last Thursday, to the effect that English will become the default language of the university, had clearly been released without consulting the proper channels.  The question now is whether this had been done by the Rector and his Management Team out of ignorance, or in order to create an anti-Afrikaans climate to facilitate the eventual academic and administrative phasing out of Afrikaans.”

In its motion, the EC emphasises that the “current management’s document represents a perspective of SU management and is based on a synthesis of their experience of events and consultations with student bodies”.  Bailey underlines that the document therefore proves that the management’s commitment to Afrikaans cannot be trusted, that they have consulted selectively with students, that they lack insight into the connection between mother-language education and academic excellence, that their understanding of constitutional and language rights leaves much to be desired and that alumni, students, prospective students and donors should monitor the situation carefully and should not be lulled into believing that the struggle for the protection of the position of Afrikaans at SU has now been won.

“The EC’s statement that any possible future changes in the language policy or language plan shall follow the statutory route, is reassuring for the time being.  Meanwhile reactions to the ill-considered management statement of last week have at least distinguished between those who have insight into and sympathy with the language rights of the Afrikaans-speaking community and those who could not wait to sacrifice Afrikaans for comfort’s sake or in order to score ideological points,” she added.

Issued by Alana Bailey, Deputy CEO, AfriForum, 16 November 2015