The sudden zeal with which the EFF first objected to the use of Afrikaans in Parliament and now at the NWU creates the impression that it is probably an orchestrated campaign against the language and its speakers. An EFF Member of Parliament said in the National Assembly that Afrikaans is a “disgusting language”.
On the afternoon of 16 July 2019, during a student debate at the NWU Potchefstroom campus, a female student who spoke on behalf of the FF Plus, Ms Gené Otto, also got a lot of flak from riotous EFF students who would not allow her to speak Afrikaans. The topic of the debate was the culture of students at the PUK.
The organisers of the debate informed students beforehand that any language may be used during the debate. As a gesture of reaching out, Otto first spoke in Tswana, then in English and then in Afrikaans.
The EFF strongly objected to her use of Afrikaans and the chairperson then insisted that Otto must speak in English. She proceeded to speak Afrikaans after which the debate was stopped and Otto was not allowed to participate any further.
Afrikaans speakers must not allow others to bully or threaten them when they want to speak their own language and the FF Plus will take the lead in this fight for equality.
The actions of the debate’s organisers are also unacceptable. The university’s Potchefstroom campus is proudly multilingual and it is unacceptable that the university allows riotous EFF students to dictate events.
The FF Plus will lodge a formal complaint against the EFF students and the organisers of the debate for their inappropriate behaviour. There are numerous Afrikaans speaking students at the university and it is their constitutional right to speak Afrikaans. The FF Plus will not back down.
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Michal Groenewald on FF Plus
South Africa Today – South Africa News
