AfriForum launches wide-ranging protest action against Lesufi’s racist cultural vandalism
AfriForum announced that a wide-ranging protest action will be launched against Gauteng’s MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi, to put a stop to his racist attacks on Afrikaans-medium schools. The announcement follows after the remarks made yesterday by Lesufi that thousands of children in Gauteng have not yet been placed in schools for next year and that Afrikaans schools will have to accommodate these children, irrespective of whether they have full command of Afrikaans, or not.
According to Alana Bailey, Deputy CEO of AfriForum responsible for language issues, Lesufi is a cultural vandal who misuses children as pawns to carry through his ideological agenda against Afrikaans. “Lesufi launches assault after assault against Afrikaans schools under the pretence that he has the concerns of learners at heart. In the process he uses reprehensible techniques such as race polarisation to reach his goal. For years, state-supported schools have no longer comprised of learners of a single race only. Still he pretends that the right to single-medium mother-tongue education in Afrikaans, which is internationally recognised as the best form of education, is used in a racist manner to exclude children of other races. As part of his mendacious misrepresentation, he also fails to mention that Afrikaans does not have only white mother-tongue speakers, because this fact does not promote his agenda.”
AfriForum is currently preparing a complaint that will be submitted to the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (also known as the 185 Commission) against Lesufi’s misrepresentations, denial of the language rights of Afrikaans-speaking people and deeds of aggression against minority rights in general. The organisation’s legal team is also investigating possible legal action against him.
Bailey emphasised that AfriForum is not opposed to the right of all South African children to have access to outstanding education. “However, the problem is that the Department of Education is not keeping up with the growing demand for education, and instead of creating more schools and straightening out the 80% of dysfunctional schools in the country, they are hiding behind excuses about financial shortages, placing the burden on functional schools to accommodate children at the expense of quality education of all learners, and in this instance also of Afrikaans.”
Education will not be promoted by disadvantaging the 20% functional schools by removing mother-tongue education and cramming classes. Quality education and rights are not promoted by denying more learners access thereto.
“Lesufi’s call for the destruction of single-medium Afrikaans schools comes down to a form of cultural genocide,” said Bailey. The South African Constitution acknowledges the right to mother-tongue education. The United Nation’s Declaration of Minority Rights declares: “Minority language education is a key component of protecting the identity of minorities.” It has been proven internationally that double-medium schools eventually convert to single-medium schools with the dominant language (in this instance English) then becoming the only medium of education.
AfriForum urges all parents to oppose Lesufi’s campaign with regards to his seditious remarks and assaults against Afrikaans schools. Announcements regarding manners in which the campaign can be supported, will take place during the course of the week.
Issued by Alana Bailey, Deputy CEO, AfriForum, 28 October 2015
