English only, ConCourt instructs UFS

THE parallel use of English and Afrikaans as the medium of instruction at the University of the Free State (UFS) led to Nelson Mandela’s “worst nightmares” coming true.

This is what Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said yesterday in the Constitutional Court when he delivered judgment in the matter between the UFS and civil rights group AfriForum.

“The use of Afrikaans has unintentionally become a facilitator of ethnic or cultural separation and tension. This has been so from around 2005 to 2016. Its continued use would leave the results of white supremacy not being redressed but being kept alive and well. It is for that reason that a policy revision or intervention has since become necessary‚” he read.

AfriForum approached the high court in Bloemfontein last year to try to overturn the university’s 2016 decision to use English as the sole medium of instruction‚ replacing the policy of the parallel use of English and Afrikaans as the medium of instruction. The high court ruled in favour of AfriForum in June last year.

The matter was then taken to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein before it was heard by the Constitutional Court.

Mogoeng said in a majority ruling that the university’s current language policy was lawful, and as such denied AfriForum leave to appeal.

No order was made on the costs of the application. — DDC