2 days ago
Governing body wins fight to change apartheid-era school name
The governing body of an Afrikaans public school named after a former prime minister who was instrumental in the promulgation of apartheid has won a legal battle in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) to rename the institution.
Hoërskool DF Malan, established in 1954, obtained the permission of then prime minister Dr Daniel Francois Malan, who served as prime minister from 1948 to 1954, to be named after him.
However, more than three decades into South Africa's constitutional democracy, the name is regarded as an albatross around the neck of a school in Bellville known for its culture of academic excellence and policy of inclusivity. Over four years the school achieved a 100% matric pass rate. A decision was taken in 2020 to embark on a lengthy consultative process to chose new school symbols, values and a name.
The first request for change came from an alumnus who wrote to the governing body in 2018, saying the name was 'insensitive and inappropriate'. Two more letters were received in September 2019 from a parent of two pupils. The pressure ramped up in 2020 when a group called 'DF Malan Must Fall' joined the fray.
'A public institution's name often says more about its identity, ethos and culture than its written mission statement. This is even more so if the institution is named after a controversial historical figure,' reads a judgment handed down on Wednesday by the SCA.
'It is thus unfortunate that more than three decades into our constitutional democracy there are still public institutions which are named after individuals who were instrumental either in the development or implementation of the universally deprecated apartheid ideology. The DF Malan High School ... which bears the name of one of the chief architects of apartheid, is one such an institution.'
Barend Hermanus Rautenbach, Johan Smit, Francois Malan and Barend de Klerk — parents affected by the decision to change the school name to DF Akademie — took umbrage and hauled the governing body to the Western Cape High Court in December 2021 seeking an order reviewing and setting aside the name-change decision.
They argued the governing body did not have statutory power to change the name, the consultative process it adopted was procedurally unfair and irrational, and the decision was not rationally connected to the information before the governing body.
