premier ndebele welcomes equality court decision
02 October 2008

In October last year, Ntombenhle Nkosi lodged a complaint with the Equality Court on behalf of her son against the school and its governing body for teaching her son sub-standard IsiZulu. Ms Nkosi, who also heads the Pan South African Language Board (PANSALB), argued that her son was being discriminated against by being taught the language as a second language when it was his mother-tongue. She believed it would be disadvantageous for him, culturally and socially and that the language was being subjugated by English and Afrikaans. The court ruled in favour of the mother.

Premier Ndebele applauded the efforts of the child’s mother and said her actions should serve as a norm to others. "With the 2.7 million learners in schools in KwaZulu-Natal, there is a fair assumption that our children should be able to read English and isiZulu. “This is irrespective of whether they are Indian, Black, Coloured or White, in this way we will create a nation that will be able to speak to itself,” Premier Ndebele said.

KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government, the premier said, would ensure in all 6 000 schools in the province, effective and efficient language provision was being carried out. "This ruling marks a fundamental shift as it not only ruled on the quantitative provision of rights but had considered the qualitative provision of isiZulu. In this instance it found that the isiZulu language was being taught at a sub-standard level,” he said.

Premier Ndebele warned all schools to take note of this decision and that the qualitative equality of all official languages has now been enhanced by this decision of the Equality Court. “The decision will strengthen and raise our vigilance as government at monitoring the provision of languages at schools and the manner in which they are taught, if a school in KwaMashu is teaching any of the official languages poorly, they too would be taken to task,” he said.

The Equality Court found that there was no justification to discriminate against the isiZulu learners, and not the Afrikaans learners in KwaZulu-Natal where isiZulu is the majority language.
 
Gabi Khumalo,  www.buanews.gov.za