The University of SA's decision in 2016 to adopt a new language policy and discontinue Afrikaans as a language of learning and teaching contravened the constitution, the Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday.
The Constitutional Court has ruled that Unisa failed to demonstrate that it is not reasonably practicable to continue with Afrikaans as one of the languages of instruction. File photo.The University of SA's decision in 2016 to adopt a new language policy and discontinue Afrikaans as a language of learning and teaching contravened the constitution, rendering the decision invalid.
The Constitutional Court passed this judgment on Wednesday in the legal battle between AfriForum and Unisa which has been running for five years andThe objective for the policy was to institute measures to enhance the status of indigenous African languages, while also phasing out Afrikaans and, therefore, removing the guarantee that courses be offered in both Afrikaans and English.
AfriForum launched an application in the high court to review and set aside the language policy on the basis of procedural irregularities and inconsistency with section 29 of the constitution. That section states that everyone has a right to receive education in the official language of their choice in public educational institutions where that education is reasonably practicable.
The high court dismissed AfriForum's application. AfriForum then approached the SCA, which upheld its appeal last year.
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