/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

As part of its #AfrikaansSalBly (Afrikaans will stay) campaign and to celebrate the 91st birthday of Afrikaans, AfriForum Youth today built four temporary language monuments with Jenga blocks printed with Afrikaans words. As part of the festivities, 91 balloons were also released. These symbolic actions were held at the Universities of Pretoria (UP), Stellenbosch (US), the Free State (UFS) and the North-West University’s Potchefstroom campus. However, the festivities weren’t received equally well on the different campuses. 

Many students and lecturers from the UFS and the NWU shared in the festivities and welcomed the celebrations for Afrikaans. Their actions were received in good spirit and no disruptions occured.

The festivities on the US and UP campuses were disrupted, however.

Members of the EFF arrived at the US’s Rooiplein, where they erected a corrugated iron house and started barbeque fires without authorisation from campus security. Members of the local AfriForum Youth branch at the University called in the fire department and campus security, after which the fires were extinguished and the rioting students told to leave the premises. AfriForum Youth was allowed to continue its actions, however, which many students supported.

At UP the temporary monument of Jenga blocks and words was demolished and confiscated, although AfriForum Youth did not contravene any University rules.

“Despite the incidents at the US and UP, AfriForum is of the opinion that the events had been hugely successful. Afrikaans has a place in higher education and the events aimed to celebrate Afrikaans and preserve it. It was wonderful to see how many students still cherish Afrikaans and support its preservation,” said Janli Sonntag, AfriForum Youth’s Campus Coordinator.

Students who study in Afrikaans stand a chance to win a study bursary of R20 000. SMS your name and the name of your campus to 32687 (R1).

video footage attached

Issued by Afriforum Youth