Stellenbosch University wins language case, but DA says it is considering an appeal
|Published
Cape Town - Stellenbosch University may have won the case brought against it by the DA and student organisation StudentePlein, arising out of its decision to do away with providing new Afrikaans learning materials during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the language war is not over yet.
The student organisation said it was considering appealing the case, while DA MP Leon Schreiber, who is also a member of the university’s convocation, said the party would be considering “further steps against Stellenbosch University to protect mother-tongue education”.
On Friday, Western Cape High Court Judge Judith Cloete ruled that the university’s senate and its committees had not violated the university’s 2016 language policy, as alleged by the DA and the student organisation.
The student organisation and the DA had also asked the court to declare the senate’s decision and changes to the faculties’ language implementation plans unconstitutional, unlawful and in violation of the 2016 language policy.
The court dismissed this request.
Judge Cloete’s ruling said there had been consultations and approved changes to particular language arrangements of certain faculties, as provided for in the language policy.
After the judgment, Schreiber said the DA would continue to protect Afrikaans mother-tongue education at Stellenbosch, which he described as the last university in the south of the country that could offer tertiary education in Afrikaans.
“The DA is also looking forward to the SA Human Rights Commission’s findings on complaints the DA lodged last year after students in residences and on campus were allegedly forbidden to speak Afrikaans.”
He said the DA and the student organisation’s case stemmed from the “self-acknowledged fact” that the university did not strictly comply with its own language policy when making its decision to do away with Afrikaans learning materials.
The student organisation said on its website that the verdict had not detracted from the indifference towards Afrikaans the university had displayed before the court.
“In fact, the university paints a picture in their court documents that Afrikaans is an unimportant side issue.”
The university said the ruling served as confirmation that it had acted in good faith during the Covid19 pandemic, when various sectors, including universities, had to quickly find new ways of working and implementing emergency measures.