Two opposition parties reacted angrily on Monday to reported remarks by a military judge that he finds official correspondence in Afrikaans ”disgusting”.
The Freedom Front Plus said it will submit a complaint over the matter to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) and the Pan South African Language Board (Pansalb).
The Democratic Alliance said the remarks should not be allowed to pass, and urged Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota to intervene.
The offending statement was made by military Judge Lieutenant Colonel Mbulelo Mandela on January 18 last year during a trial in Cape Town.
In his findings, Mandela reportedly said: ”I must say it on record that to me it is disgusting that at this time and age we still find official correspondence or official communication in Afrikaans,” because English is the official communication language of the South African National Defence Force.
On Monday, FF+ spokesperson Pieter Groenewald questioned Mandela’s impartiality.
”He not only insults Afrikaans, but also infringes upon the constitutional rights of the accused. If he has such a disdain for Afrikaans, how would he be able to make an objective decision on the issue at hand?”
Groenewald said the FF+ will submit a complaint to the HRC and Pansalb, and will question Lekota in Parliament about steps against the judge.
DA spokesperson Desiree van der Walt said Mandela’s comments should not be allowed to pass without some form of ministerial sanction.
”I have today written to the minister of defence to look into the matter,” she said.
The DA believes the judge should not be allowed to get away with insulting one of South Africa’s 11 official languages.
To do so is, in effect, an insult to the Constitution, which stipulates that ”the state must take practical and positive measures to elevate these languages”.
”This issue is about more than protecting the Afrikaans language; it is about protecting the constitutional right of South African citizens to use their own language to defend themselves in a court of law,” she said. — Sapa