Afrikaans and the university language debate: Exploring the Constitutional Court judgements - Part 1 - 2

Origin date: 19 November 2019
Updated: 2 Dec 2020

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Summary

Living in Stellenbosch, I am sensitive to the emotions that accompany the decline of Afrikaans as a high-level cultural medium. This constitutes an obvious cultural ‘cost’ for those who were previously able to use their ‘mother tongue’ at this level. Two recent Constitutional Court cases have qualified the constitutional right to “language choice” at public educational institutions and concluded a three-year period of language policy litigation at historically Afrikaans universities. On 10 October 2019, the Constitutional Court released a unanimous judgement, which found that Stellenbosch University’s 2016 language policy was “constitutionally justified”. The court dismissed the case presented by an Afrikaans interest group called Gelyke Kanse (Equal Opportunities), which had sought to appeal against an earlier judgement by the Cape High Court.

How we know this

01Hill, L. (Dr). (2019). Afrikaans and the university language debate: Exploring the Constitutional Court judgements from Daily Maverick, Available at https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-11-19-afrikaans-and-the-university-language-debate-exploring-the-constitutional-court-judgements/. Accessed on 19 November 2019

Last updated · 2 Dec 2020

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2019, December 4). Afrikaans and the university language debate: Exploring the Constitutional Court judgements - Part 1 - 2. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/R-0149790

South African History Online (2019) 'Afrikaans and the university language debate: Exploring the Constitutional Court judgements - Part 1 - 2', South African History Online, 4 December. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/R-0149790 (Accessed: 29 August 2026).

South African History Online, Afrikaans and the university language debate: Exploring the Constitutional Court judgements - Part 1 - 2 [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/R-0149790, (accessed 29 August 2026).

"Afrikaans and the university language debate: Exploring the Constitutional Court judgements - Part 1 - 2." South African History Online, 4 Dec. 2019, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/R-0149790. Accessed 29 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "Afrikaans and the university language debate: Exploring the Constitutional Court judgements - Part 1 - 2." South African History Online. December 4, 2019. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/R-0149790.