Stellenbosch language policy challenged in court
The DA and student organisation StudentePlein have taken their battle with Stellenbosch University to court over the institution's language policy, reports Polity.
Both filed papers in the Western Cape High Court yesterday.
The DA accused the university of using Covid-19 as a ploy to do away with Afrikaans. In the notice of motion, the DA and StudentePlein asked that the decision of the university's senate to deviate from the provisions of the institution's language policy be declared unconstitutional, unlawful and in violation of the policy.
In the affidavit, the DA's Stellenbosch constituency head Leon Schreiber said: ‘The university failed to comply with its language policy to the detriment of Afrikaans students.’
In March, the university's senate accepted a recommendation from its academic planning committee that allowed lecturers to only have to make new learning material available in English for the first semester of 2021 owing to Covid-19.
But, according to the affidavits, the evidence showed this was not true as the deviation remained in place after four consecutive semesters.
In StudentePlein's affidavit, chairperson Tobias Alberts stated that the senate's latest decision violated the university's 2016 language policy.
Alberts added that the decisions also impeded home language teaching for Afrikaans students and violated section 29(2) of the Constitution, which was the right to basic education.
University spokesperson Martin Viljoen said the university would respond to the merits of the case.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
