AfriForum Youth demands clarity from SANRAL over bursary discrimination

6 July 2023

AfriForum Youth today sent a lawyer’s letter to the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) to demand answers about the agency’s bursaries for 2024 which appear to be subject to racial discrimination. From the information available on SANRAL’s website and brochures, it appears that race is a determining factor in the awarding of these bursaries.

The youth organisation is demanding answers from SANRAL on, among other things:

The criteria used to define its equity targets and determine when they have been reached.

How SANRAL reconciles this policy with the constitutional values of non-racialism and equality.

If applicants are allowed to self-identify their race and, if this is verified by SANRAL, how this verification is done.

It is important that the youth of South Africa know what SANRAL’s answers to these questions are because, as a state entity, SANRAL’s policies has a significant impact and must therefore especially reflect the constitutional values of equality and non-racialism.

“SANRAL’s blatant discrimination with these bursaries is just another pothole in young Afrikaner’s futures and AfriForum Youth strongly opposes any form of racial discrimination. In difficult economic times the youth of South Africa more than ever deserve equal opportunities to study that is awarded on merit and not the colour of their skin,” says René van der Vyver, spokesperson for AfriForum Youth.

AfriForum Youth regards these policies and practices of racial discrimination as a determination to keep the racial classification system of the apartheid era alive, even though the Population Registration Act of the 1950’s was recalled 32 years ago.

The youth organisation expects thorough feedback from SANRAL within the next 30 days.

Issued by René van der Vyver, Spokesperson, AfriForum Youth, 6 July 2023