Stellenbosch senate backs rector amid Afrikaans language row

Wim de Villiers faces motion of no confidence at 17 April council meeting

Senior academics at Stellenbosch University in South Africa have come out in support of the institution’s rector, who faces a motion of no confidence next month over a row that has seen the university accused of human rights abuses for telling students to not speak Afrikaans.

Earlier this month, Democratic Alliance MP and university council member Leon Schreiber said he would table a motion of no confidence against rector Wim de Villiers (pictured) in the wake of a report by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), which found that the university had violated students’ human rights by telling them not to speak Afrikaans in certain residences.