Gerrit Brand

Stellenbosch University rector Chris Brink and intellectual Jakes Gerwel have welcomed the debate about the posthumous award of an honorary doctorate to the late Bram Fischer as an illustration of the "broadness and liveliness of the discussion" in Afrikaans. Unfortunately, not all those who support the award have exhibited the same attitude. What was the Fischer debate really about?

We regularly hear that one lingua franca, English, is necessary to prevent social disintegration on an ethnic basis, and to ensure the continuance of South Africa as a unitary state. This logic is strongly reminiscent of the ideas of an influential movement in the United States, the so-called "English only" movement.