(I write this letter in Afrikaans because it is my home language and many of the people I hope will read it, are Afrikaans-speaking. I have, however, also added an English translation at the bottom of the letter.)
Beste Prof Wim
My beste wense vir 2016
2016 gaan beslis nie vir jou en die res van die span by die Universiteit Stellenbosch (US) ’n maklike jaar wees nie. Ek wil graag vir jou dankie sê vir jou leiding van Maties tot dusver (en dat jy Gautengers ook per brief op hoogte hou van verwikkelinge) en van my kant af jou aanmoedig om deur te druk in die vernuwende rigting wat ek glo jy besig is om in te slaan.
Ek is 'n wit, Afrikaanssprekende, middeljarige, welgestelde Christenman. Ek het vier wonderlike jare op Stellenbosch geswot, my vrou daar ontmoet en ek hoop van harte dat my drie kinders in ons spore sal volg. Ek is terselfdertyd ook onwrikbaar toegewy aan ons land, om die gemeenskaplike bagasie wat ons saamdra te verwerk en om oplossings te vind vir al ons uitdagings. Ek kyk dus by uitstek na die US as ’n vennoot om my kinders te help voorberei vir die beste moontlike Suid-Afrika.
Ek glo almal wat ’n akker op die kop voel val het, sal saam met my hard baklei vir die behoud van:
• Uitnemendheid in alles wat ons doen. Soos Langenhoven gesê het is “goed genoeg is nooit goed genoeg nie” (selfs in die naam van “transformasie”).
• Dissipline en wedersydse respek; dat een persoon (van watter kant van die spektrum hulle mag kom) nie die reg het om sonder meer hulle eie kwellings of voorkeure aan ander op te dring nie.
• Stellenbosch se unieke kultuur, herkoms en tradisies (insl koshuisrugby, fietsry in Victoriastraat, sokkie en quad-krieket) waar dit nie strydig is met die toekoms wat ons wil bou nie. (Waar die lyn lê, sal ons saam moet uitpraat.)
• Die ruimte om jouself te leer ken deur eerlike en opregte praat en luister met die verskeidenheid mense om mens.
Ek hoop ook diep in my hart dat my kinders (as wit Afrikaners) altyd tuis sal voel op Stellenbosch en dat hulle, minstens op voorgraadse vlak, hulle gekose vakrigtings in Afrikaans sal kan studeer. Ek kan egter nie meer aanvaar dat Afrikaans die kaart kan wees wat alle ander oorwegings troef nie. Myns insiens staan Maties (die instelling sowel as elkeen van ons individueel) in Suid-Afrika in 2016 voor ’n aantal keuses wat dit onafwendbaar maak dat ons oopkop ons heilige koeie in die oë kyk:
• Om dinamies en toekomsgerig te wees of om die status quo in ’n glaskas te probeer bewaar.
• Om relevant te wees en ’n leiersrol te speel of om reaktief, vrywilliglik geïsoleer en (oënskynlik) dwars te wees.
• Om die rykdom van diversiteit te omarm of eerder die bleekheid van ’n wêreld waar almal soos ek is en niemand my perspektiewe uitdaag nie.
• Om onsself uitsluitlik op grond van ons taal te definieer (hoe lief ons vir haar mag wees) of om ook met ander toekomsbepalende sake te stoei.
• Om ons speelveld (en dus waarvoor ons ons kinders voorberei) streng plaaslik te definieer of om mee te ding met die beste wat die res van die wêreld bied.
• Om deel te wees van 100% of van 10% van ons land.
Ek het onlangs die puik boek oor Steve Biko deur Xolela Mangcu gelees. Ek is eerstens diep geraak deur Biko se besef (so toepaslik in ons debatte vandag nog) dat ons almal moet begin by ’n onwrikbare geloof in en gemak met onsself. Slegs dan kan ons sonder vrees, meerderwaardigheid of dergelike ander verdedigingsmeganismes met ander omgaan. Tweedens, het ek ’n persoonlike besluit geneem dat ek sal baklei om vir my kinders die rykdom te verseker van ’n Stellenbosch waar beide Biko en Mangcu welkom sal wees (en welkom sal kan voel!). Lovelyn Nwadeyi se aangrypende toespraak het my groot hoop gegee (en amper hierdie brief in die drom laat gooi).
Ek sal nooit weer my “wit voorreg” probeer ontken nie. Net so, is die Universiteit Stellenbosch ongekend bevoorreg. Dit beteken egter allermins dat ons boedel oorgee en wegsak in ’n grys poel van eenvormigheid en die laagste gemene deler. Ons kan die skatkis van ons voorregte wat aan ons toevertrou is, aanwend om deel te wees van die Nuwe Suid-Afrika; in die hoofstroom en ’n leidende speler in die vind van oplossings vir al ons land se uitdagings.
Ek is baie bekommerd dat baie van die stemme wat opgaan oor die behoud van Afrikaans op Stellenbosch, eintlik maar benoud is oor ons minderheidsbestaan in ons land; dat baie van hulle min direkte kontak het met “die ander” (en die verbreding wat daarmee saamkom); dat hulle geen hoop het vir iets tussen “ons wen” en “ons verloor” nie; dat hulle wil vasklou aan “ons rykdom” ten koste van “die ander”; dat Afrikaans gebruik word (ook deur Engelssprekendes) as 'n front vir “wit”. Sekerlik moet ons 22 jaar na 1994 nou kies om hierdie uitgangspunt te laat gaan! Persoonlik, sal ek my beywer vir ’n Stellenbosch wat so ongemaklik moontlik is vir diegene wat wil laer trek eerder as vorentoe beur.
Ek weet nie wat die oplossings gaan wees wat al hierdie oorwegings die beste balanseer nie, maar ek glo jy pak die uitdaging aan en verseker jou graag van my ondersteuning.
Andrew le Roux
18 Februarie 2016
(English translation)
Dear Prof Wim
My best wishes for 2016
2016 will certainly not be an easy year for you and the rest of the team at Stellenbosch University (SU). I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the leadership shown to date (and that you keep Gautengers informed of developments through your letters) and to encourage you to persevere on the course you have set towards renewal.
I am a white, Afrikaans-speaking, middel-aged, well-to-do, Christian man. I was privileged to spend four marvellous years studying in Stellenbosch, I met my wife there and I sincerely hope our three children will go the same route. At the same time, I am steadfastly committed to our beloved country, resolving the baggage we collectively carry with us and the pursuit of enduring solutions. I see SU as a critical partner in preparing my kids for the South Africa we hope to see.
I have little doubt that everyone with Stellenbosch in their blood would fight to protect:
• Excellence in everything we do. As said by CJ Langenhoven, “good enough has never been good enough” (not even under the banner of “Transformation”).
• Discipline and mutual respect; that no individual (whatever their background or views) has the right to impose onto others their opinions, preferences or concerns.
• The unique Stellenbosch culture, heritage and traditions, but only to the extent that it doesn’t clash with the future we want to build together. (What is kept and what goes will need to be the result of open and inclusive dialogue.)
• The freedom to get to know oneself by speaking and listening honestly and respectfully to diverse people around you.
My heart’s desire is that my children (as white Afrikaners) will always feel at home in Stellenbosch and that they are able to study the courses they choose in the Afrikaans language, at least at undergraduate level. However, I no longer believe that Afrikaans kan be the one card that trumps all other considerations. I believe Maties (both the institution and the individuals connected to it) need to confront some of our holy cows by considering a number of strategic choices:
• To be dynamic and future orientated or to seek to preserve the status quo like a museum piece.
• To be relevant and to play a leadership role or to be reactive, voluntarily isolated from the mainstream and (seemingly) always contrary.
• To embrace the richness of our diversity or to choose the pale monotony of a world where everyone is the same as me and many of my perspectives are never challenged.
• To define ourselves purely on the basis of our language and sacrifice other dimensions and trade-offs that will determine our future relevance.
• To restrict our horizon to only local concerns (and prepare our children for that playing field) or to stand up and be counted with the best in the world.
• To be part of 100% or merely of 10% of our country.
I recently read the stirring biography on Steve Biko by Xolela Mangcu. I was, in the first instance, moved by Biko’s insight (which seems to be missing from our discourse today) that each person needs to find a deep belief in and comfort with himself or herself. From that base, we can engage with others without the defense mechanisms of fear, superiority etc. Secondly, I feel compelled to do whatever I can to ensure that my children experience the richness of a Stellenbosch where both Biko and Mangcu can feel at home. Lovelyn Nwadeyi’s moving recent address to the Convocation gave me great hope in this regard (and doubts whether I still needed to send this letter!)
I have given up pretending that my “white privilege” is not real. In the same way, SU has been entrusted with untold riches and assets. This in no way should compel us to retreat from our responsibilities and retreat into an undifferentiated, grey future. I believe the treasure chest of our privilege should be harnessed in our collective pursuit to the New South Africa; in the middle of the mainstream and playing a leadership role towards finding solutions for our country’s challenges.
I have a deep concern that many of those who argue for the maintenance of the status of Afrikaans at SU, are speaking from a personal anxiety about being a minority in the country; that many of them have had precious little contact with those who are different from them (and the opportunity to be enriched by it); that they have little hope for anything in between “we win” and “we lose”; that they are determined to hold on to what they know at the expense of historic outsiders; that “Afrikaans” is being used (even by English-speakers) as a front for “white”.
Surely, 22 years after 1994, it is time to move on from this world view! Personally, I will pursue through all means at my disposal, a Stellenbosch that is as uncomfortable as possible for those who value the past over a hopeful future.
Balancing all of the considerations I have described is a gargantuan task and I certainly don’t know exactly what the solutions are, but I want to pledge my support to you as you lead us through the next period.
The post Ope brief aan die Prof Wim de Villiers appeared first on LitNet.