Government also to blame for barring of black pupils at Overvaal

The Hoërskool Overvaal saga in Vereeniging should be treated as a failure by the department of education to abolish Afrikaans as the only medium of instruction in that school.

Remember, the department knew the language policy of that school long time ago, and nothing was done to redress it, until the registration processes took place.

If the school has been using only Afrikaans long before democracy, why then has that not been addressed? The government has policy regarding the languages to an extent of declaring that all languages are equal. The fact of the matter should be whether that is practical or just word of mouth.

In public sphere, we are so proud when our kids speak English or Afrikaans, but how many whites are prepared to be proud of their kids speaking Sotho or Venda?

The saga reminds us of Orania in Northern Cape, where they even have their own currency; only whites are allowed to live there. Even if you can afford to reside there, your skin colour determines your acceptance or rejection. The question is, why is that allowed in a country whose constitution surpasses even those in the developed world?

To deal with the Overvaal saga, let the department of education review the policies and engage school governing bodies to better address the issue, rather than blame it purely on racism.

Mojalefa Monyane, Vereeniging