Litnet

"Was Gerwel verkleurmannetjie wat hom na die veranderende Suid-Afrikaanse werklikheid geskik het, of was hy meer soos die skilpaaie, waarvoor hy so ‘n voorliefde gehad het – die dop het die grootste deel van hom verskans en het hy homself nooit werklik ontbloot of blootgestel nie?"

"I am all for transformation. Which is why I believe Stellenbosch University should remain Afrikaans."

"Mhlawumbi uyazibuza ukuba singayenza njani na le nto yokuphuhlisa iilwimi zesiNtu ukuze zibe kumgangatho ofanayo neAfrikaans?" | "Perhaps you are asking yourselves what we could do to improve African languages so that they reach the same level as Afrikaans?"

"Constitutions are about the 'promised land'; ours is certainly not a magic wand that has wiped out our history and made us all equal. To achieve this 'promised land' we need to be pragmatic, generous and human in our approaches to move from where we are, from what we have inherited, to what we would collectively like to be." 

"’n Mens sou kwalik die optredes van Juju en die EFF op dié stadium as burgerlike ongehoorsaamheid beskou, en tog is dit moontlik dat hul oortreding van parlementêre reëls miskien ’n voorbode is van iets meer omvangryk. Onderwerping aan die staat kan tog nie beteken ’n meedoen aan praktyke wat as onregverdig en gewelddadig ervaar word nie."

"Nie net is dit broodnodig nie, dit is ook uiters verantwoordelike akademiese rentmeesterskap wanneer die Bybel gelees word op die verskillende maniere waarvan die “pragmatiese” lees getuig."

"ʼn Mens 'moet' tog sekerlik niks nie, veral nie wat betref gehoorsaamheid aan owerhede nie!"

"… we believe that tuition in a language of choice is central to a dignified and well-deserved tertiary education. Students should not be compelled to be taught in a language they do not fully understand or do not know at all. However, by simply introducing English as the only language of instruction, the academic development of Afrikaans and isiXhosa is jeopardized. It is regressive and shameful to transformative constitutionalism if a previously neglected language such as isiXhosa loses its developmental status at SU, along with Afrikaans …"

"Finally, there is only one viable and long-term solution, namely the creation of a fully fledged English academy and a fully fledged Afrikaans academy on the same campus, with the ideal of having, one day, also a fully fledged Xhosa or Zulu academy."

"[L]anguage is more than just a means of communication; it influences our culture and even our thought processes."

"Come, let us create space for Afrikaans as well as the other indigenous languages – English is a world language, it is the greatest common factor among us and will remain standing without special assistance."

"Hoekom is dit dan dat die meeste universiteite in Suid-Afrika dan net Engels as onderrigmedium gebruik? Waar is ons ander tale? Watter waarde heg ons aan ons tale – of hou ons nog vas aan die mite dat eentaligheid die norm is?"

"Imagine if centres and schools were started at the university to actively boost research, tuition and translation services in Xhosa so that students from Khayelitsha and the Transkei were no longer stuck with the choice of studying in either their second or their third language. Imagine if lecturers engaged one another in their respective first languages and broadened one another’s horizons?"    

"How do you get someone out of the township? The answer to this question of transformation is simple: educate them in their own language!"

"Afrikaans has never been the enemy; the use of the language to exclude people from conversation is the problem. Not the language!"

"The youth are actively participating. Expect them to indicate the pace at which we move forward."

"Afrikaans should be seen and accepted by non-Afrikaans students as a language spoken by the majority of people in the Western Cape. There are more Afrikaans-medium schools in the Western Cape than in the rest of the country combined. Surely this is a fact that cannot simply be ignored. Those students, the majority of whom are coloured/black Afrikaans mother-tongue speakers, have a right to be taught in the language of their choice – Afrikaans. The abandonment of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction at universities will have an effect on the entire Afrikaans community in South Africa."

"Once again, I find myself perplexed by your intentions, OS. You need to jump off this taaldebat train, because it’s clear your demands for transformation go so much further than language – and rightly so."

" ...the only way forward for Afrikaans is for its proponents to stop privileging it above other indigenous South African languages and actively and practically support the development of all South African languages."

"Jammer: daar is geen geld en roem in blogging nie."