Just over 72% of people who voted on changing the name of Bellville’s Hoërskool DF Malan support giving the school the name DF Akademie (Academy), according to News24.
DF Malan was the first Nationalist prime minister of the apartheid era, serving from 1948 to 1954.
The school governing body (SGB) said the turnout for the vote – 3 466 votes were cast out of 9 496 eligible participants, a voter turnout of 36.5% – was twice as high as the 18% turnout during this year’s governing body election.
It said in a statement: ‘We would like to express our sincere thanks to everyone who voted and thus contributed to the proud milestone in the history of our beloved school.’
The body would now ‘fully analyse and validate the results’. This would pave the way for formal approval of the name by the Western Cape Education Department.
In a message to the school community, the SGB said: ‘As a school community, you have made it clear that you are ready to finally identify the school’s identity disconnected from the former political figure, DF Malan. As a governing body, your approval is our mandate to complete the process.’
News24 reported that some parents, pupils, and alumni remained opposed to changing the name, fearing that the process would be ‘hijacked by a full-scale transformation agenda’.