Afrikaans 'part of the struggle'
Pretoria - The Afrikaans language was being eroded in many spheres of society, former president FW de Klerk said on Friday.
"I find the systematic erosion of the rights and claims of Afrikaans, as established in the Constitution, unacceptable," De Klerk said.
Speaking at the University of Pretoria's Afrikaans language conference, De Klerk said that language was one of the fundamental rights on which consensus had been reached during negotiations to end apartheid.
He believed that not only were some of the provisions of the Constitution often circumvented today, but the spirit in which they had been negotiated was also not being honoured.
"Despite our Constitution, Afrikaans is being used in an ever decreasing manner in our courts and in state activities. Afrikaans is also under pressure at the SABC," he said.
Afrikaans 'part of the struggle'
De Klerk said the language was also under pressure at schools and universities.
"Single medium Afrikaans schools are decreasing rapidly."
He said it was true that Afrikaans was a dominant language in the time of apartheid, but it was also true that those who struggled against apartheid often conducted their struggle in Afrikaans.
"When my colleagues in the cabinet and I planned our far-reaching reforms, we did so in Afrikaans and the implementation of those plans was also conducted in Afrikaans," De Klerk said.
He suggested that Afrikaans-speakers should insist on the maintenance of the constitutional position of Afrikaans in general, and in particular at schools and universities.
"We must place Afrikaans at the forefront of the meaningful recognition, as well as promotion, of all our other indigenous languages. I believe that Afrikaans really has the ability to be a front-runner from which all languages in South Africa can benefit."
According to De Klerk, one of the key realities of South Africa was that it is a multi-cultural country and everyone belongs to one of the 11 language groups.
"For me this means that I will never be asked to abandon my Afrikaans heritage; that my people and I are recognised as a positive building-block in the South African nation, and that all other South Africans have the same claims with regard to their cultural heritage," he said.
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