prof. William de Villiers. (Photo: Stellenbosch University)
The Stellenbosch University (SU) senate on Friday gave its unwavering support to the rector, prof. Wim de Villiers, indicated, by accepting a motion of confidence in De Villiers and his management team.
The motion was tabled by Prof. Geo Quinot from the Faculty of Law and seconded by prof. Mbulungeni Madiba, dean of the Faculty of Education. It follows after findings by the Human Rights Commission (HRC) that the university did violate students’ human rights by banning them from speaking Afrikaans in 2021.
The HRC recommended that De Villiers issue a written and public apology to students, something he has not yet done.
In light of this, Leon Schreiber, the DA’s constituency chief in the Western Cape and also a SU council member, said he intends to motion of no-confidence against De Villiers at the council.
The senate’s motion of confidence was apparently introduced in response to this and reads as follows: “With knowledge of the HRC’s report of 14 March and SU’s response to it, the senate members confirm their confidence in and support of the rector and vice-chancellor and his management team in their pursuit of inclusiveness and multilingualism at SU.”
In motivation for the motion, Prof. Quinot told the senate:
“We as SU’s academic leaders are committed to multilingualism as set out by SU’s language policy and indicated by its widespread implementation by our university community.
“The non-compliance with or incorrect application of such policy by certain groups and/or individuals in specific contexts within the institution does not support a motion of no confidence in the rector, but rather supports a) the continued reflection by the university community on how to at best to become an inclusive and multilingual institution, where everyone’s rights are protected and promoted, and b) support from the management, including the rector, to realize an inclusive and multilingual community through the efficient and thoughtful implementation of relevant policies in a complex, diverse and large institution.”
DA-LP Leon Schreiber
(Photo: Facebook)
He also said such cooperative endeavor would be appropriate to fulfill the constitutional responsibility to correct the injustices of the past and the realization of equality for all.
Prof. Madiba supported the motion and said that he and the deans considered the proposed motion of no confidence to be a serious matter of concern, “not only for the rector, but for all of us, as language policy and planning matters at this university are a common and collaborative effort is”.
“As one of the leading experts on language policy and planning, I can say with confidence that the intended motion of no confidence has no basis. What our university has achieved in relation to multilingualism is not matched by most universities in the country.”
He added that the language policy was investigated by several courts, including the Constitutional Court. “Even the report of the HRC could not find any fault in relation to our language policy, except for one phrase which, according to recommendation, should be changed.”
He says that while it may be true that the language policy was not interpreted correctly by students at only two of the 31 residences during the orientation period, these errors cannot be considered representative of the state of language policy enforcement in the university and the overall performance of the rector regarding the implementation of multilingualism in SU.
“There are many good success stories to tell regarding the implementation of inclusive multilingualism at our university, which the board member in question [Schreiber] chose to ignore in pursuit of his intended vote of no confidence.”
