It is tragic that the courts have to protect the true diversity of South Africa, with a dozen languages, from the ANC regime, and it remains unfortunate that the ANC government preaches diversity, yet applies monolingualism. This ruling is appropriate on the eve of Heritage Day, in that it recognized the language rights of students, and imposes a specific obligation with regard to execution on Unisa. It is equally unfortunate that language and cultural communities have to turn to the courts in the final instance, to claim their rights as diverse languages with specific reference to Afrikaans, especially at historically Afrikaans universities.
SA Constitutional Court Declares UNISA Language Policy Unconstitutional after 5 Year Long Court Case!
‘You will regret it in 30 years time’: Tito Mboweni on scrapping Afrikaans at UP
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Finance minister Tito Mboweni ruffled feathers after tweeting that he disagrees with the removal of Afrikaans as a medium language of instruction at the University of Pretoria.
As of 2019, English is the medium language of teaching for all first-year classes at the university after AfriForum Youth and Solidarity lost a high court battle in 2016 to challenge the language policy.
Former University of the Witwatersrand vice-principal Tawana Kupe took up his position as the first black vice-chancellor at the University of Pretoria, placing racial transformation of academic staff at the centre of his agenda.
Mboweni’s tweet triggered much debate and responses, as the minister firmly stood by his opinion.
This report does not necessarily reflect the opinion of SA news