Afrikaans still forced on us
“A DAY of violence and fury — and regrets” (June 12) refers. The transformation of the educational system has not done anything to answer the call of the fallen heroes of June 16 1976.
Forty years later, our sons and daughters are still learning Afrikaans. It remains a superior language to all other indigenous languages. Many schools do not give pupils any choice in languages but Afrikaans.
Afrikaans will not help our children with anything. They could have utilised their precious time to learn other life skills.
I belong to the class of 1976 who fought Afrikaans as a medium of instruction. I was expelled for refusing to be taught in Afrikaans. I am one of the 1976 youth who threw stones at police vehicles, shouting “Verwoerd, voetsek!”. I was one of those sprayed with teargas and baton-charged. I am one of those who lost the full school year due to the uprisings.
I was detained by the security police for being part of the underground meeting in support of the uprisings against Afrikaans. The security police burst into the house at 2am to arrest me. My mother is still alive at 88 and can bear testimony to the panic it caused the family.
Young people were tortured, suffocated with plastic bags, beaten up like Steve Biko, and some disappeared. Our leader, Phakamile Mabija, was one of us detained at the Transvaal Road police station in Kimberley. He was eventually killed by the security police. I was fearstricken and attempted to go into exile, but I was followed by the security police. I therefore had to lie low and pass Afrikaans. Thank God I survived the ordeal. — Andrew Malotle, by e-mail