Ideas

The Afrikaans debate was not about language, but keeping baasskap alive

17 October 2019 - 09:00 By jonathan jansen
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"Thankfully, Afrikaans youth know the world has changed and accept the Stellenbosch Varsity ruling," writes Jonathan Jansen.
"Thankfully, Afrikaans youth know the world has changed and accept the Stellenbosch Varsity ruling," writes Jonathan Jansen.
Image: Gallo Images / Daily Sun / Themba Makofane

The debate on Afrikaans in universities that ended in the Constitutional Court last week, was really about power.

It was about a group that had lost political power now trying to reassert its identity and authority through Afrikaans. It was about Afrikaans as the proprietary rights of the few and not as a linguistic asset belonging to the many.

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