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27 March 2024 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Sonia Small
Human Rights 18 March 2024
Vanessa Rose September, Chair of the Albie Sachs Trust, hands over donated books to Prof Serges Kamga, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of the Free State.

Echoing the words of Nelson Mandela, Prof Francis Petersen, the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Free State (UFS), emphasised the profound significance of human rights. “To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity,” he said during his opening address at the Human Rights Celebration held by the UFS Faculty of Law on 18 March 2024.

Acknowledging the pivotal role played by stalwarts such as Emeritus Justice Albie Sachs and Sir Sydney Kentridge, Prof Petersen delved into the strides made since the inception of South Africa’s contemporary constitution.

Underlining the university’s unwavering commitment to human rights, Prof Petersen added, “For universities, it remains critical that every aspect of academic life is viewed through the lens of human rights. The principle of equality lies at the centre of our purpose and operations.”

Furthermore, Prof Serges Kamga, Dean of the Faculty of Law, highlighted the institution’s vision encapsulated in Vision 130, striving to produce graduates who embody excellence and contribute to societal transformation.

Panel discussion: Sir Sydney Kentridge’s enduring legacy

Former Justice Zak Yacoob, renowned for his tenure at the Constitution Court of South Africa, paid tribute to Sir Sydney Kentridge in a panel discussion focusing on Kentridge’s contributions to human rights both nationally and internationally.

Reflecting on his personal experiences working alongside Sir Kentridge, Justice Yacoob highlighted the practical essence of human rights advocacy. He recounted Sir Kentridge’s seminal role in shaping the constitutional court’s early judgments, particularly emphasising the incorporation of human dignity into the constitutional framework.

Justice Yacoob’s insights shed light on the profound impact of Sir Kentridge’s jurisprudence on society, particularly in shaping notions of dignity, equality, and freedom. “The contribution he made was absolutely amazing. He wrote the first-ever judgement delivered by that court in April 1995. It was the first judgement that brought forth the issue of human dignity and its importance.”

Joining the discussion were esteemed panelists including Honourable Madam Justice Yvonne Mbatha and Dr Adri Du Plessis, who provided expert commentary on Sir Kentridge’s contributions to the legal fraternity. The discussion was moderated by Prof Elsabe Schoeman, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria.

Honouring legal icons

Vanessa Rose September, Chair of the Albie Sachs Trust, presented books donated by the trust. The biography titled Arthur Chaskalson: A life dedicated to justice for all chronicles the life of Chaskalson, a towering figure in South Africa’s legal landscape.

Emeritus Constitutional Court Justice Albie Sachs delivered a thought-provoking lecture, pondering the question of whether there is cause for celebration on the 30th anniversary of human rights in South Africa.

With a rich history of activism and legal scholarship, Justice Sachs reflected on the evolution of South Africa’s judiciary and the enduring legacy of the Constitutional Court. Despite acknowledging prevailing challenges, Justice Sachs remained optimistic, citing the country’s constitutional framework as a beacon of hope and progress. “There’s lot to be angry about, there’s lots to complain about, there’s lots that has to be renounced, but there’s lots to celebrate. We’ve got a country, we’ve got a constitution, we’ve got rights, we’ve got instruments that we can use,” he said.

In conclusion, the Human Rights Celebration served as a poignant reminder of the ongoing struggle for dignity, equality, and justice, reaffirming the university’s steadfast commitment to upholding these fundamental principles in academia and beyond.

News Archive

Weideman focuses on misconceptions with regard to survival of Afrikaans
2006-05-19

From the left are Prof Magda Fourie (Vice-Rector: Academic Planning), Prof Gerhardt de Klerk (Dean: Faculty of the Humanities), George Weideman and Prof Bernard  Odendaal (acting head of the UFS  Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French). 
Photo (Stephen Collett):

Weideman focuses on misconceptions with regard to survival of Afrikaans

On the survival of a language a persistent and widespread misconception exists that a “language will survive as long as people speak the language”. This argument ignores the higher functions of a language and leaves no room for the personal and historic meaning of a language, said the writer George Weideman.

He delivered the D.F. Malherbe Memorial Lecture organised by the Department Afrikaans at the University of the Free State (UFS). Dr. Weideman is a retired lecturer and now full-time writer. In his lecture on the writer’s role and responsibility with regard to language, he also focused on the language debate at the University of Stellenbosch (US).

He said the “as-long-as-it-is spoken” misconception ignores the characteristics and growth of literature and other cultural phenomena. Constitutional protection is also not a guarantee. It will not stop a language of being reduced to a colloquial language in which the non-standard form will be elevated to the norm. A language only grows when it standard form is enriched by non-standard forms; not when its standard form withers. The growth or deterioration of a language is seen in the growth or decline in its use in higher functions. The less functions a language has, the smaller its chance to survive.

He said Afrikaans speaking people are credulous and have misplaced trust. It shows in their uncritical attitude with regard to the shifts in university policies, university management and teaching practices. Afrikaners have this credulity perhaps because they were spoilt by white supremacy, or because the political liberation process did not free them from a naïve and slavish trust in government.

If we accept that a university is a kind of barometer for the position of a language, then the institutionalised second placing of Afrikaans at most tertiary institutions is not a good sign for the language, he said.

An additional problem is the multiplying effect with, for instance, education students. If there is no need for Afrikaans in schools, there will also be no  need for Afrikaans at universities, and visa versa.

The tolerance factor of Afrikaans speaking people is for some reasons remarkably high with regard to other languages – and more specifically English. With many Afrikaans speaking people in the post-apartheid era it can be ascribed to their guilt about Afrikaans. With some coloured and mostly black Afrikaans speaking people it can be ascribed to the continued rejection of Afrikaans because of its negative connotation with apartheid – even when Afrikaans is the home language of a large segment of the previously oppressed population.

He said no one disputes the fact that universities play a changing role in a transformed society. The principle of “friendliness” towards other languages does not apply the other way round. It is general knowledge that Afrikaans is, besides isiZulu and isiXhosa, the language most spoken by South Africans.

It is typical of an imperialistic approach that the campaigners for a language will be accused of emotional involvement, of sentimentality, of longing for bygone days, of an unwillingness to focus on the future, he said.

He said whoever ignores the emotional aspect of a language, knows nothing about a language. To ignore the emotional connection with a language, leads to another misconception: That the world will be a better place without conflict if the so-called “small languages” disappear because “nationalism” and “language nationalism” often move closely together. This is one of the main reasons why Afrikaans speaking people are still very passive with regard to the Anglicising process: They are not “immune” to the broad influence that promotes English.

It is left to those who use Afrikaans to fight for the language. This must not take place in isolation. Writers and publishers must find more ways to promote Afrikaans.

Some universities took the road to Anglicision: the US and University of Pretoria need to be referred to, while there is still a future for Afrikaans at the Northwest University and the UFS with its parallel-medium policies. Continued debate is necessary.

It is unpreventable that the protest over what is happening to Afrikaans and the broad Afrikaans speaking community must take on a stronger form, he said.

 

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