'My child went to an Afrikaans school' Panyaza Lesufi says not 'anti-Afrikaans'

Lesufi has been responding to the building of a new Afrikaans university in Pretoria by trade union Solidarity.

Gauteng MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi joined Kieno Kammies on Monday to explain why he's concerned by the building of an Afrikaans university in Pretoria.

It's very important to understand where we come from, that there was a certain language that was used to oppress people in this country.

Panyaza Lesufi, Gauteng MEC for Education

The R300 million university forms part of trade union Solidarity's 'Solidarity Network' and promises '[world-class education... offered though Afrikaans as medium of instruction.](http://world-class education will be offered though Afrikaans as medium of instruction.)'

In a tweet posted on Monday morning, Lesufi said, " I just hate racism when I see one! A race-based institution in a non-racial society won’t succeed. Please don’t remind us about apartheid"

He says the idea for the Solidarity university came 'out of anger' when universities across the country began changing their language policies to accommodate students who wished to learn in their mother tongue.

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You can't say 'you can't come to this university' purely because you speak the wrong language.

Panyaza Lesufi, Gauteng MEC for Education

Lesufi sought to defend himself against those who accused him of being anti-Afrikaans, saying he believes all languages should be treated equally.

We're not saying this because we are attacking Afrikaans...but the message 'we only need one language' is bad.

Panyaza Lesufi, Gauteng MEC for Education

Listen to the full interview below:

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