In the past week, we’ve seen uproar about the University of Pretoria and their decision to phase out Afrikaans as one of their mediums of teaching. How will this contribute towards transformation and inclusivity? Are we not widening the gap and further excluding communities like the San and Coloured people? How can we use the Afrikaans language as a resource? How can it be viewed as a role model of what is possible in the development of language and people? It took commitment, political will and resources to develop Afrikaans to where it is today as an academic language and a language used in other higher domains. Why are other languages not developed as well so that we can level the fields?

GUEST: Khethiwe Marias – Language activists, researcher and communications consultant