The DA may bark and bite, but it will not be a train smash if Het Jan Marais Nationale Fonds closed the money taps at Stellenbosch University (SU), which has many streams of funding, according to rector and vice-chancellor Wim De Villiers.
After retired judge Sisi Khampepe released her report on the allegations of racism at Stellenbosch University on Wednesday, DA’s Leon Schreiber threatened that the party will compel the scheme from funding the institution should it accept Khampepe’s recommendations.
Khampepe found that Stellenbosch University is fraught with a toxic culture caused by ancient racial scars and beliefs.
In the report, she made recommendations regarding the toxic culture and the university’s language policies, notwithstanding the need for greater change in leadership. Khampepe suggested that the university revises its language policy to eliminate chances of language exclusion through the preference for Afrikaans.
However, Schreiber believes the report paints a bad picture of the Afrikaners, thereby making them a scapegoat for all the university’s troubles. Schreiber said since the dawn of De Villiers’ appointment, the university has committed several injustices against Afrikaners.
“The report equates the Afrikaans language with racism and scapegoats the 7-million black, white, and coloured speakers of this official indigenous language for the urination incident that took place at the university earlier this year,” said Schreiber.
“Based on this insulting and dishonest finding, the report goes on to recommend the complete erasure of Afrikaans from both formal and informal settings at Stellenbosch.”
Established in 1915, the Het Jan Marais Fonds was set up for the development of Afrikaans and the Stellenbosch area.
“The Het Jan Marais Fonds is by far the biggest donor to the university. The fund originates from the last will and testament of Jan Marais, who donated £100 000 [R2-million] to the university in 1915 on the explicit condition that the money would only remain available for as long as Afrikaans enjoyed equal status to English as an academic language at the university,” he said.
The university would be violating the Fonds condition if it implements Khampepe’s recommendations, according to Schreiber.
He added that it would be “ultra vires and inconsistent with the terms of the fund’s contract with SU for the current trustees of the Het Jan Marais Fonds to continue funding a university that plans to erase Afrikaans”.
“The DA calls on the Het Jan Marais Fonds to put [Stellenbosch University] rector and vice-chancellor Wim de Villiers on terms, making it clear that the fund will withdraw all of its financial support unless the university explicitly rejects Khampepe’s outlandish recommendation to extinguish the right to mother-tongue education of South Africa’s diverse Afrikaans-speaking community.”
Answering media questions pertinent to the report on Wednesday, De Villiers said the DA does not fully comprehend Khampepe’s report. De Villiers explained that the university does not discriminate, noting that its policies are multilingual, therefore it encompasses all.
De Villiers said Stellenbosch University is committed to multilingualism and the western cultural context. “The university’s language policy, and which has passed constitutional mastery, is a multilingual policy and that is certainly what we committed to. We’re committed to multilingualism and in the context of the western constant.”
De Villiers added that the university is still studying the report and would engage with the public once the report has been processed.
However, his reaction indicates that Khampepe’s report is a hard pill to swallow, saying it is a “sobering moment”, as the university has come to a realisation that in fact black students and staff members have been feeling unwelcomed at the institution despite measures enforced thus far.
“We must face the reality that there is a gap between our intentions with regard to various transformation initiatives and the implementation thereof. We have to work hard to align our institutional commitments with what is happening in practice and on the ground level,” said De Villiers.
“Although there is much in the report for the university to take heart from, specific fault lines have also been identified. There is a lot of work to do across Stellenbosch University, in the interest of all our students and staff, in the sincere spirit of being welcoming and inclusive.
“Justice Khampepe made various recommendations that we are now studying deeper. We will evaluate the findings and implement action plans to address the areas for improvement as identified in the commission’s recommendations.”
Also read: DA compels Het Jan Marais Fonds to withdraw SU funding
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