Stellies language policy still in process

The council had not considered the alternative multilingual language policy

STELLENBOSCH University (SU) says a decision about whether its language policy will change is yet to be made.

SU spokesperson Susan van der Merwe said a decision about the draft proposal would be made in due course and that student activists Open Stellenbosch (OS) would be consulted. This comes after OS reiterated its call yesterday for the dissolution of SU’s council after the decisionmaking body clarified its stance on multilingualism.

OS said the council was against transformation and its members were using multilingualism as a front for maintaining the “privileged status of standard Afrikaans”.

The activists’ call comes after the council agreed that all learning at the university would be in English – as long as this was not to the detriment of students who wanted to be taught in Afrikaans.

The SU council met this week to respond to management’s draft proposal that the 2014 language policy be changed. The document is supported by the majority of the senate, including more than 200 staff members and academics, and was handed to council on November 12.

“Council can only consider a draft language policy or amendments to the existing language policy once the official process as determined by the university statute has run its course of consultation with various bodies and with the concurrence of senate.

“In terms of sound governance, council may not consider any policy that has not followed the prescribed process,” Van der Merwe said.

She said council members could be removed only by various stakeholders in accordance with the statute.

OS spokesperson Mohammad Shabangu said the council had not considered the alternative language policy, despite the fact that it prioritised “true multilingualism”.

“The commitment the council has made to maintain the language policy adopted in 2014 indicates a failure to acknowledge that the conception and implementation of this policy is flawed.

“It is the only proposal that prioritises access and promotes an enabling environment for true multilingualism, while taking cognisance of the intersectionality of language, class, gender, race and disability as experienced in academic, employment and social environments,” Shabangu said.

He said the council’s decision to overrule management’s proposal exposed its anti-transformation agenda.

“Council, yet again, has shown that its interest rests primarily with the preservation of not a language but an oppressive cultural system, which allows a white minority group to flourish to the detriment of a majority black population.

“Council’s decision exposes a conflict of interest and a failure in responsible, ethical governance. We condemn council’s sidelining of internal stakeholders and its refusal to act in the public interest. Once again we call for the dissolution of the council,” Shabangu said. carlo.petersen@inl.co.za

@carlo_petersen