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GOLFING FOR CHANGE

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

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ARTICLE: THE BRACKENFELL BOIL

Heritage Day

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.

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ARTICLE: AFRIFORUM v UNISA: THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION IN THE LANGUAGE OF CHOICE

Apartheid illustration

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) recently handed down a well-reasoned judgment that underscores a critical number of core principles insofar as language rights and education are concerned in South Africa.
 
The South African Constitution is very clear on language rights in public educational institutions – including universities and schools. Section 29(2) provides that ‘Everyone has the right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice in public educational institutions where that education is reasonably practicable. In order to ensure the effective access to, and implementation of, this right, the state must consider all reasonable educational alternatives, including single medium institutions, taking into account:
 
(a) equity;

(b) practicability; and

(c) the need to redress the results of past racially discriminatory laws and practices.’
 
The above is also reinforced by other provisions pertaining to language rights in the Bill of Rights, for example, the right to use the language of one’s choice (Section 30) and that persons belonging to a cultural, religious or linguistic community may not be denied the right, with other members of that community, to enjoy and use their language (Section 31(1)(a)).
 
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ARTICLE: DOES THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT JUDGMENT SIGNAL THE END FOR AFRIKAANS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?

ConCourt interior

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. 

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