Who and what is AfriForum?

AfriForum is an Afrikaans civil rights organisation that protects the rights of minority groups at national as well as provincial level, and anyone who can identify with AfriForum’s principles and objectives may join the organisation. AfriForum’s community plan focuses on mobilising communities to thus take control of their own streets and neighbourhoods again. AfriForum ensures that your constitutional and civil rights are recognised and protected at national level.

Wie en wat is AfriForum?

AfriForum is ’n Afrikaanse burgerregteorganisasie wat die regte van minderheidsgroepe op sowel nasionale as provinsiale vlak beskerm, en enigiemand wat met AfriForum se beginsels en doelstellings kan identifiseer, mag by die organisasie aansluit. AfriForum se gemeenskapsplan fokus daarop om gemeenskappe te mobiliseer om só weer beheer terug te neem oor hul eie strate en woonbuurtes. AfriForum verseker dat jou grondwetlike én burgerregte op nasionale vlak erken en beskerm word.

Bela Bill – AfriForum’s objections remain

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Basic Education today continued its discussion of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill (also known as the Bela Bill). According to AfriForum, there is still no indication that the objections about especially clause 5 and 6 of the bill, which deal with governing bodies’ right to make the final decision on their school’s language and admission policies, are seriously being taken into account.

According to Alana Bailey, AfriForum’s Head of Cultural Affairs, members of the committee and spokespersons of the Department for Basic Education claim that there is no agenda against Afrikaans and that governing bodies will be able to appeal to the provincial heads of education if they are not satisfied with decisions about language and admissions policies. Even though processes for the approval of these policies may be revised, the government will still have the final say about the policies – unlike the current situation where the authority rests in the hands of school governing bodies comprising community members.

“There have already been too many statements by officials and politicians about the undesirability of monolingual Afrikaans schools and the department’s intention to transform these schools into parallel or dual medium institutions. These reassurances cannot be taken seriously,” says Bailey. She refers to statements by Dr Reginah Mhaule, Deputy Minister of Basic Education, a week ago that learners cannot be turned away by schools based on language, as a recent example in this regard.

“The continued existence of monolingual education institutions is the cornerstone of mother-language education in any language and is especially essential when a smaller language like Afrikaans comes up against a major language like English. Eventually, the stronger language displaces the smaller one, a scenario that we have seen play out in many schools and universities in the past decade.”

“These articles in the Bela Bill are a calculated attack against any institution that wants to provide mother-language education sustainably, unless it is English mother-language education. Based on this, AfriForum continues preparing for legal action against it, unless the articles are scrapped in total and the current status quo is maintained,” she says.