"The government is talking nonsense about the development and protection of Afrikaans as one of the official languages. The government is also actively contributing to the destruction of the language. In fact the ANC government`s reckless attitude and unwillingness to protect Afrikaans is the same as cultural genocide and is the spiritual twin of the unwillingness of the eradication of 30 000 Boer women and children as a result of a reckless unwillingness of the British to make the concentration camps liveable during the Anglo-Boer war," Adv. Anton Alberts, the parliamentary spokesperson on Arts and Culture for the FF Plus said.

Adv. Alberts` reaction follows on the government`s reply to the demand of Mr. Cerneels Lourens, a lawyer from Brits and founding member of the Association of Legal Practitioners for Afrikaans. According to the daily newspaper Beeld (20101-02-08) Mr. Lourens has sought a court order which
would force the government to accept the national language act as required by the Constitution. The government is however refusing to accept responsibility that Afrikaans could not reach the same level as English. In addition the government is pleading poverty as there are no funds available
to make all documents available in all the official languages.

"The FF Plus finds it to be absurd that the ANC government offers such weak grounds to justify the absence of Afrikaans and multi-lingualism in the public service, especially given the following
reasons:

• The ANC has since taking control of government in 1994 been making a big noise about the colonial past and how South Africa has to be transformed away from the past. In the same breath colonial English is being embraced and praised as language of choice and mainly Afrikaans place names are being changed. The English colonial heritage is actively being protected by the ANC government while it mercilessly persecutes our Afrikaans heritage
and tries to wipe it from our collective memory. The money being wasted in this manner to change place names could rather be spent on the establishment of a multi-lingual public service.

• It is furthermore ironic that with the celebration of the De Klerk speech which gave rise to the new constitution and which had formed the basis of reconciliation - also cultural reconciliation (see sections 6, 9, 10, 18, 30, 31, 185 and 235 of the Constitution) - the ANC government gave
recognition to the constitutional event but bluntly ignored the constitutional spirit and founding principles. It once again confirms that the new South Africa is merely about power and plundering opportunities for the ANC government and is not about the fair management of our diverse society in our country.

• The disregard of Afrikaans and multi-lingualism is also in sharp contrast with the requirements of various international agreements and resolutions in this regard and it won`t be long before the international community will begin turning against the ANC government`s policy in this regard. The expectations which the international community had with regard to the new South Africa, is quickly busy fading and so also patience with the ANC government," is the opinion of Adv. Alberts.

According to Adv. Alberts there is enough evidence that the ANC government
does not at all respect the protection of Afrikaans as an official language, amongst others:
o Many Afrikaans schools and universities is under pressure to transform and to anglicise;
o The FF Plus has to fight to have Afrikaans acknowledged in Parliament;
o Afrikaans is used very little in the public service, if at all;
o Even in overwhelming Afrikaans provinces, the language is being neglected.

The FF Plus supports Mr. Lourens in his case and will closely monitor the development of the case. If the judicial service is not going to be favourable toward Afrikaans, there will once again be looked at for a political solution. If the ANC government is unwilling for such a solution, the ANC government will have to budget for future uprisings and civil resistance.

ADV. ANTON ALBERTS
083 950 9272