In a riveting debate, the ANC contemplates the fate of Afrikaner culture in the face of proposals to establish independent schools for its preservation. Nompendulo Mkhatswa, ANC-LP and chair of the parliamentary portfolio committee for higher education, science, and innovation, expressed concerns about reactionary attempts to safeguard Afrikaner culture and “white supremacy.”
Dr. Wynand Boshoff of the VF Plus, ever the academic jester, sought a debate on communities’ right to manage and develop education institutions. Mkhatswa, not one to miss a punchline, argued that institutional autonomy shouldn’t be used to “preserve Afrikaners’ institutional culture.” She suggested Parliament ensure independent institutions don’t discriminate based on race, culture, class, or gender.
Buti Manamela, the deputy minister of higher education, stepped into the comedic ring, declaring that self-determination, language, and culture shouldn’t be tools for further segregation. “We can’t have little Oranias popping up nationwide, where the language and culture of a particular racial group are celebrated, and the rest of society is excluded,” he quipped.
Manamela, channelling his inner comedy critic, pointed to the Solidarity Movement’s Sol-Tech campus as an example. While acknowledging the commendable effort of the Afrikaner community, he teased that many other communities, like Soweto, lack the private resources to erect language-based institutions.
Boshoff, a master of satire, deduced that the ANC wants to establish and maintain a tyranny of the majority. “The current assault on the 1996 Schools Act compromise aims to place education entirely in state hands. While education officials used to avoid words like ‘self-determination,’ it’s becoming clearer that it’s precisely the right groups wanting to preserve their education who will have to invoke it,” he remarked.
Boshoff’s punchline? Beating the ANC at the polls won’t be enough; a constitutional dispensation recognizing the country’s cultural diversity should replace the current suppression of minorities. Cue the laughter, or maybe it’s just the sound of political satire floating away on the winds of change.
Tags: Afrikaans Afrikaner