Protesters tape mouths shut

2008-08-21 21:19

Pretoria - A handful of members of the civil rights group AfriForum protested outside the Department of Education in Pretoria on Thursday.

Chief executive officer of AfriForum Youth, Ernst Roets, said the demonstration was in aid of language promotion.

"It is in the promotion of language, not only Afrikaans, but other indigenous languages, particularly in schools and tertiary institutions," he said.

He added that research conducted by AfriForum indicated that people performed better if they were taught in their mother tongue.

The group accused the department of "gross negligence" with regards to promoting mother tongue education.

Among issues raised in their memorandum, AfriForum expressed concern that many students were deprived of access to tertiary education because of a language policy that only provided for English tuition.

The protesters, including University of Pretoria students, taped their mouths shut with black tape while brandishing placards that read: "Are all languages not equal?"

Receiving the memorandum on the department's behalf, Professor Molefe Ralenala, said the department would look at the issues raised in the document.

- SAPA