DA rejects Matie language call

2004-11-09 18:02

Cape Town - A call to reconsider the use of Afrikaans at the University of Stellenbosch is not practical, and stems from "prejudice", says the Democratic Alliance.

DA arts and culture spokesperson Desirée van der Walt rejected a recent suggestion by a Stellenbosch internal team that the university reconsider its language policy because Afrikaans was a "barrier to transformation".

"With 60% of the Western Cape's population speaking Afrikaans as a first language, how can such a move be justified?" she asked.

The institution was an entirely nonracial, Afrikaans university.

"It can only be in the interests of the majority of prospective students in the area, students of all races and cultural backgrounds, for it to remain so.

Suggestion 'has no practical basis'

"The university is already instrumental in real 'transformation', since it is geared toward ensuring that as many people as possible are able to have access to, and empower themselves through, higher education.

"The suggestion that Afrikaans is a barrier to transformation, therefore, has no practical basis. It can only be taken as the product of prejudice."

Van der Walt said such a suggestion was an affront to the Afrikaans-speaking community, and against the spirit of the Constitution.

"As one of South Africa's official languages, Afrikaans is protected in the constitution, which stipulates that 'the state must take practical and positive measures to elevate these languages'.

"The DA calls on the Minister of Arts and Culture, Pallo Jordan, to ensure he upholds this constitutional obligation by supporting the Afrikaans-language status of the university."

South Africa's indigenous languages needed to be nurtured and respected, and decisive steps taken to ensure this was done.

"Disrupting the functioning of a university that is working well and that represents the interests of the majority of the population in its area violates this principle," she said.

- SAPA