FF+ pushing ahead with Afrikaans-only university

Dr Wynand Boshoff. Picture: Orania Facebook page.

Johannesburg - The Freedom Front Plus (FF+) believes not allowing institutions of higher education to decide whether they want to be Afrikaans-medium is “cultural imperialism”.

In parliamentary questions to the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Dr Blade Nzimande last month, the party's Dr Wynand Boshoff asked whether it was government’s policy to permit one university campus to be predominantly Afrikaans-speaking.

Nzimande responded: “All South African universities are currently public higher education institutions and must be accessible to a wide range of diverse students. Within the South African context, universities have developed language policies in line with the Policy on Languages in Higher Education, and have moved away from Afrikaans-only language institutions or campuses toward utilising English as the main language of instruction, and at the same time fostering multilingual environments that include a range of other languages.

“This move has been tested in the Constitutional Court and has been found to be in line with the Constitution. Government supports these language policy movements, however, it does not set the policy at the institutional level. An institution may implement a language policy that allows for dual mediums of instruction in terms of the policy. However, they may not implement policy that results in language being a barrier to access and success for students.”

Nzimande also said that private higher education institutions must also uphold the Constitution and implement language policies that do not act as barriers to access and success.

On Tuesday, Boshoff said he was asking the question in relation to the building of the Solidarity-owned new Sol-Tech University campus in Centurion. The project, which is set to cost about R300 million, is funded through donations, according to the union.

The university will be home to Solidarity’s accredited, Afrikaans private vocational training college founded on Christian values. Boshoff said the issue of language-based institutions was not about access anymore but the rights of people to be taught in their mother tongue.

“If a private institution finds a market, then they must be allowed to honour their constitutional right to be taught in their official language. Not allowing this is cultural imperialism.

“The issue is not about inclusivity anymore. Sol-Tech will not be excluding students on the basis of language. They won’t be an institution only for white Afrikaner people but any student who prefers to enter the world of knowledge in their home language,” Boshoff said.