CaPe Town - The ANC in the Western Cape has hit back at a claim by the Freedom Front Plus that Afrikaans is being “forced out” of schools with ANC support, saying that the claim reflects the fact that the FF+ remains “Volkstaat-minded” and “myopic”.
Basic education spokesman for the FF+ Anton Alberts said the ANC was favouring English, which was “increasingly forcing mother-tongue education in Afrikaans and other indigenous languages out of the education system”.
“It seems that at present Afrikaans is going downhill and English is flourishing. It is a disgrace. English should, at most, be a bridging language, except for English first-language speakers,” he said.
In response, ANC provincial spokesman Cobus Grobler said it was false to claim the ANC was “unilaterally” favouring any language, adding that the FF+ was making unsubstantiated, sweeping statements.
Alberts said the ANC-led government was not being honest about favouring English over other languages, and was “busy unilaterally forcing its will on the public”.
This came after a reply to a parliamentary question Alberts submitted about the status of Afrikaans showed the number of Afrikaans-medium schools had decreased by 20 percent since 2002.
He argued that, according to opinion polls, two-thirds of South Africans of all races agreed that children should have the right to receive their education in their mother tongue, and the government should do more for mother-tongue education.
Grobler said the ruling party was committed to diversity and multilingualism.
“We have instructions in all 11 official languages at our elective events,” he said.
Grobler said the dominant position of English in South Africa today was not caused by ANC intrigue. Rather, the FF+ should look to South Africa’s history as part of the British Empire and the global importance of English as a language of business and diplomacy.
The ANC had fought to keep open some Afrikaans-language schools in the Western Cape slated for closure, he added.
In her reply, Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga said that in 2002 there were 1 805 Afrikaans-medium schools nationwide, compared with 1 429 in 2013 – a decrease of 20 percent.
Weekend Argus