Elsenburg students unite for Afrikaans

Hundreds of students from Elsenburg Agricultural Training Institute today held a protest during which a memorandum was handed to the Institute’s Management. This follows after the Management of the Institute recently failed to take a stand against students who deprived other students of their right to education in an unlawful manner. The students eventually obtained support from two external organisations, AfriForum Youth and Adam Tas Student Body, after they were at their wit’s end.

Many letters, among which letters of demand, motions of no confidence as well as a list of grievances, were directed to Management recently. However, on Monday, 17 August, Management reacted to this in a noncommittal manner.

“The letter that was released by Management was clearly an attempt to appease all interested parties. It is clear that the Management of Elsenburg is avoiding the problem with the hope of it dying a silent death,” said Pieter Burger, Chairperson of the Adam Tas Student Body.

If Management fails to comply with the demands within a reasonable time, it will contain serious financial and legal consequences for Elsenburg.

“Afrikaans as a language of education is every student’s constitutional right. There is a clear attempt to get rid of Afrikaans, we will not stand by and be spectators. The mass students that turned up clearly indicates that students want to retain Afrikaans,” said Henk Maree, National Chairperson of AfriForum Youth.