The "language struggle" has been a focus of disagreement throughout South Africa's educational history. In contemporary South Africa, the issue of the language used as a medium of instruction has been most controversial in black education, where the government's policy of initial native language instruction has been widely denounced as an attempt to retribalize black South Africans. The native language policy controversy grows from the historical language struggle in the white community, which deeply influenced government policy toward black education. Before 1800, education was largely controlled by the Dutch, and even the French Huguenots were assimilated into the Dutch community. British occupation around 1800 marked the beginning of serious anglicization of the Cape and legal establishment of English as the official language. Antagonism grew between Boers and English, and English-medium instruction was inconsistent. In 1892, a law left the choice of medium of instruction up to the parents. The Afrikaans language movement pressed for native-language instruction among Afrikaans children. The 1910 Act of Union made both English and Dutch official languages, affirming bilingualism in education. While the language issue for white education is now largely settled, language remains a highly divisive issue in black education, with blacks largely rejecting native-language-medium schooling. (MSE)