AfriForum and Solidarity examine court’s dismissal of leave to appeal in UP language policy court case

10 May 2017 

AfriForum, AfriForum Youth and Solidarity are disappointed about the court’s dismissal of their application for leave to appeal a high court ruling made in December 2016. This ruling was made in favour of the University of Pretoria’s (UP) decision that English will be the only primary language of instruction at the university.

The organisations are still of the opinion that the university’s new language policy comes down to a gross violation of Afrikaans students’ constitutionally recognised language rights and conflicts with healthy educational principles, such as access to education in their mother tongue.

The legal team of AfriForum, AfriForum Youth and Solidarity will examine the ruling on the refusal of leave to appeal and then decide on which further steps to take.

As access to education in Afrikaans remains a priority for AfriForum and Solidarity, they will continue to have discussions with international forums and experts in order to wage the battle on the protection of this right in the international arena as well. At the same time, alternative opportunities to study in Afrikaans are also being developed in the private sector.

Issued by Alana Bailey, Deputy CEO, AfriForum, 10 May 2017