Stellenbosch University is committed to multilingualism
16 September 2022
The DA and Studenteplein’s court application against Stellenbosch University (SU), SU Council and SU Senate (“the respondents”) was heard on Monday 15 August 2022 in the High Court in Cape Town. The court application (amended on the day of the hearing) was brought for a court order to:
In terms of section 172(1)(a) of the Constitution of South Africa, declare that the decisions of SU Senate and its committees in the four semesters in 2020 and 2021 to deviate from the provisions of the SU Language Policy (approved on 22 June 2016) and to make changes to the faculties’ Language Implementation Plans, was unconstitutional, unlawful and a violation of the 2016 Language Policy.
In terms of section 172(1)(a) of the Constitution, to order the respondents to comply with the SU Language Policy (approved on 2 December 2021) when decisions are made about the language of instruction of individual modules.
Order the respondents to bear the applicants’ costs, including the costs of the two advocates.