Minister Nzimande wants to employ all higher education institutions for cultural imperialism

30 October 2019

The Minister of Higher Education, Dr Blade Nzimande, not only wants to employ public universities, but also private higher education institutions, for cultural oppression.

That is the only logical conclusion that can be drawn from the recent answers that Dr Nzimande provided in response to parliamentary questions posed by the FF Plus.

The Minister firstly declared that there is no place for a predominantly Afrikaans university campus as it would come down to exclusion based on the grounds of race. He referred to the Constitutional Court's ruling in favour of the University of Stellenbosch's language policy to substantiate his standpoint.

In a follow-up question, the FF Plus asked if the Minister would also view other languages, apart from English, at private higher education institutions as barriers to access. In response, he merely reiterated his previous statement.

Thus, according to the Minister, accessibility means that not one of the 26 universities' 58 campuses may provide instruction predominantly in Afrikaans and that the civil community may not do so with its own funds either.

The FF Plus is convinced that Dr Nzimande has misunderstood the ruling. If the Court found that Stellenbosch's language policy is in line with the Constitution, it does not necessarily mean that it is the only language policy that is reconcilable with the Constitution.

In this case, the Minister is misusing language as a means to suppress cultural diversity in South Africa. It is a policy that could easily lead to revolt rather than harmony.

Issued by Wynand Boshoff, FF Plus MP and chief spokesperson: Higher Education, 30 October 2019