School can ditch its apartheid links, SCA rules

A CAPE Town school has finally received the green light from the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) to change the name of Hoërskool DF Malan to DF Akademie to distance itself from being named after one of the chief architects of apartheid.

- ZELDA VENTER

The Western Cape High Court earlier dismissed a bid by four parents to prevent the school governing body (SGB) from changing the Bellville school's name to DF Akademie.

The SGB years ago officially started the process to change the school name, but in 2021, aggrieved by the decision and the proposed new name, four individuals launched a review application.

After losing that application, they subsequently turned to the SCA.

In upholding the SGB's decision to change the name of the school, the SCA, in a unanimous judgment, commented, “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.”

Judge John Smith, who wrote the judgment, added that it is thus unfortunate that more than three decades into the constitutional democracy, there are still public institutions that are named after individuals who were instrumental either in the development or implementation of the apartheid ideology.