Pretoria - Shouts of victory at last and sheer disappointment greeted the death of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction at the University of Pretoria on Wednesday night.
But it has been a long road.
The #AfrikaansMustFall campaign gained momentum last October, and it was obvious at the time that those behind it were not prepared to give up.
The EFF student command had taken over the struggle and was demanding that management change the language policy with immediate effect. However, procedures had to be followed.
Accusing management of dragging its feet on the demand, which was submitted during the #FeesMustFall protest, a new wave of unrest erupted as #AfrikaansMustFall at the Hatfield campus in February.
The protest shut the institution for 10 days, after which management invited representatives of student movements to a transformation lekgotla in March to join the work stream, the student representative council (SRC) and senior university management. Work stream is language policy, curriculum transformation and the institutional and residence culture.
However, when everyone thought calm had been restored, students struck again, threatening to disrupt mid-year exams if the impasse was not resolved. The institution did not want to see a repeat of the February unrest and immediately planned another lekgotla, during which student representatives presented their arguments on the need for change.
The parties came out of the gathering with the news that Tuks had moved a step closer to changing its language policy; the lekgotla adopted a proposal that English be the only medium of instruction for lecturers, assessments and tuition.
The decision was later confirmed by the university’s council.
Not everyone was happy. AfriForum spokesman Henrico Barnard said they were very disappointed.
“We feel the council was short-sighted and failed to consider long-term consequences,” Barnard said.
EFF student leader at Tuks Kabelo Mahlobogwane said they were happy the transformation had finally happened.
Vice-chancellor and principal Cheryl de la Rey said it was a majority decision.
Afrikaans will be phased out gradually for students still using it.
Pretoria News