THE PUBLIC’S RIGHT TO ACCES INFORMATION IS UPHELD ONCE AGAIN
2023-02-07
A mere week after the ANC argued before the Pretoria High Court that its cadre deployment policy was an exercise in ‘free speech’, the party
A mere week after the ANC argued before the Pretoria High Court that its cadre deployment policy was an exercise in ‘free speech’, the party
International Day of Education, celebrated annually on 24 January, draws attention to the importance of access to quality education as a basis for a functioning,
Mr Mayor, Nobel Peace Laureates, ladies and gentlemen Most of the Nobel Peace Prizes have, over the years, been awarded to those who have made
Today marks the 25th anniversary of the Nedbank South African Charity Golf Day. Hosted at Burhill Golf Club in Surrey, the annual event has raised
Every now and then a boil appears on the 26-year-old face of the New South Africa. One such boil erupted on 6 October in Senekal – and another earlier this week at Brackenfell High School in the Cape. These ugly eruptions may reflect more than just a passing hormonal imbalance: they could indicate a deeper underlying toxicity that might threaten the whole body politic.
(b) practicability; and
The dust has settled a bit regarding the Constitutional Court’s ruling in the Gelyke Kanse (GK) case on Stellenbosch University’s (SU) Language Policy (read the full analysis of the case here). The implications of this ruling are relevant for SU and the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University (NWU Potch); and perhaps most importantly of all, for Afrikaans as a language of instruction in public schools.
On October 10, 2019, the Constitutional Court ruled in the case in which Gelyke Kanse (GK) asked that the 2016 Language Policy of the University of Stellenbosch (SU) be set aside because it is unconstitutional. GK’s application was essentially an appeal against the Western Cape High Court’s earlier ruling, and a request to bypass the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) and approach the Constitutional Court directly. This was allowed.
The overall verdict – with which all 10 judges agreed – was written by Judge Edwin Cameron (who was recently appointed new Chancellor of the SU). There are also two additional rulings, one by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng and the other by Judge Johan Froneman, which provide additional perspectives.
During her recent budget speech, the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, referred to President Ramaphosa’s target in his State of the Nation address that every learner should be able to read with comprehension by the age of ten. She notes that the language issue is a key factor affecting reading ability and literacy, and then refers to the importance of African languages as teaching and reading languages. However, the phrase “mother tongue education” was not mentioned in her speech.