Afrikaans is losing its historical dominance at tertiary institutions.
CEO of Universities South Africa (USAF), Dr Phethiwe Matutu, share his views in the wake of the continued debate on the use of Afrikaans either in the halls of the country’s institutions or in the broader society.
Matutu’s comments followed the Stellenbosch University (SU) having to call out the DA for its incorrect and opportunistic claims of victory for defeating a recommendation that allegedly sought to abolish the Afrikaans language.
The university’s rector and vice-chancellor, Professor Wim de Villiers, said the DA's claims that the institution was adopting biased views against the Khampepe Commission’s recommendations due to external pressure were “blatantly opportunistic” and fuelled divisive opinion.
“They also undermine the university’s unwavering efforts to foster an inclusive environment where people of all languages and backgrounds can find their home for higher education at the institution,” said De Villiers.
After incidents of alleged racism, the university appointed an independent commission led by retired Constitutional Court Judge Sisi Khampepe to help foster social cohesion.
Matutu also rejected the DA’s claims of victory.
“There is no DA victory. The evidence we have is that SU never intended to phase out Afrikaans, but to use the language within inclusive multilingualism, alongside other indigenous languages relevant to the institution’s student demographics.
“As USAF, we’re aware that Stellenbosch is already working towards developing isiXhosa into an academic language. In several of SU’s programme offerings, some tutorials are already taking place in isiXhosa,” said Matutu.
She also said the Khampepe report did not recommend the phasing out of Afrikaans at Stellenbosch but rather that English be used where there were students who did not understand Afrikaans to promote inclusivity.
Stellenbosch University was among the historically Afrikaans universities which included the Rand Afrikaans, Potchefstroom, Pretoria and Free State universities pre-1994.
Some of the universities had since merged with other institutions.
“The difference between SU and other historically Afrikaans universities is that SU still has a high number of white Afrikaans students.
“We must acknowledge that SU was among Afrikaans-speaking institutions which continued to invest in African languages (Xhosa) when others had completely disinvested in language disciplines, even post-1994,” Matutu added.
She also said it would be fundamentally wrong for donors to use the funding to undermine transformation and social justice in the university
Matutu also shared views on the controversy that started after actress Charlize Theron posted on social media her views on the Afrikaans language.
“Afrikaans is losing its historical dominance in science and technology, and some Afrikaans speakers are shifting their children to (English), or at least integrating it with English for international mobility.
“Considering these, and evident migration trends, it could be argued that the number of Afrikaans speakers is declining somewhat, in South Africa.
“However, Theron’s number was just metaphorical. She exaggerated to make a point and did not mean 40 speakers in the literal sense.“
The university said it was still reviewing the commission’s report and remained committed to considering the recommendations to “strengthen the campus community as diverse, inclusive, and a place of belonging where world-class research and learning can flourish”.
However, the university said the recommendations dealt predominantly with the informal use of the languages and how everyday use should foster greater inclusivity.
“The university will promote a more inclusive language approach among the informal campus society in the spirit of the university’s values and in line with the SU’s very strong stance against any form of racism or prejudice,“ read their statement.
The Khampepe report noted the perceptions of black students and staff members of “subtle forms of racism and exclusion”.
Last December, the university’s council approved a new language policy which promoted the use of Afrikaans, English and Xhosa.
Afrikaans and English were designated as the university’s primary languages of learning and teaching, with Xhosa being incrementally introduced as an academic language in accordance with students’ needs.