The civil rights organisation, AfriForum, has won a tremendous victory for Afrikaans and the people who speak it with its successful legal action against Unisa's language policy. It followed the decision by this pioneer in distance education on tertiary level to discontinue Afrikaans as a medium of instruction some five years ago. The FF Plus welcomes the judgment and wishes to congratulate AfriForum with the victory.
While the comprehensive judgment is not yet available, it is safe to assume that the court is convinced that Afrikaans as medium of instruction on tertiary level is feasible and sustainable. The level of scientific studies in Afrikaans and the development of terminology serve as proof thereof.
One question remains, though, is there still an adequate demand for Afrikaans as medium of instruction among students? If the option is there, it will only remain available as long as students opt to make use of it. Thus, it is not only the right to mother-tongue education on university level that needs to be demonstrated, but also the usefulness of it.
Afrikaans speakers in the academic and other scientific fields, as well as the various economic sectors, must join hands to take the right to Afrikaans as university language further than the mere theoretical recognition thereof. Without any apparent practical use, one question remains for all Afrikaans speakers: Are we serious about this?
This victory for Afrikaans truly is a breakthrough for all indigenous languages in South Africa.
And the same conditions apply, namely, finding expression in the sciences as well as demonstrating the languages' usefulness, thereby encouraging students to select them as medium of instruction. Afrikaans, and the institutions preserving and promoting it, could offer technical support to other indigenous languages. As regards execution, the onus rests on the people, the ones speaking those African languages, just as it does for Afrikaans as well.
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