In public institutions and especially on state-run television, European Afrikaans has been relegated to a subordinate role. In the once mostly exclusive European Afrikaans-speaking universities and schools, instruction is now given in English, a reflection of the varied linguistic backgrounds of increasing numbers of African students. African governments now run most localities, and officials interested in being re-elected are beholden first of all to the townships. Rampant corruption in the townships and bureaucratic excesses committed by the new African elites in city government dampen whites' willingness to keep up their payments of local property taxes. Whites in the Johannesburg suburb of Sandton, for example, have resorted to a tax strike as a way to make themselves heard at city hall.
Surveys show that emigration is a consideration for an increasing number of people.
It is not known how many whites actually have turned their backs on South Africa in the last five years. Individual cases attract the most attention, such as that of the prominent law professor John Dugard. Having been passed over for a judicial appointment, he decided to accept the call of a university in the Netherlands. People moving to Westernpe Province have found an alternative to the extremes of leaving the country altogether or simply enduring the changed conditions. On the same basis, Afrikaans continues to play the role of the lingua franca.