South Africa: Our languages matter!

[Harold Schiffman]

Our Languages Matter!


African National Congress (Johannesburg)

Posted to the web 15 February 2008

By Jacob Zuma


On February 21, the world will celebrate International Mother Language
Day, to promote the linguistic and cultural diversity. This year's
celebration is special because the United Nations General Assembly has
proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of Languages, under the
theme "Languages Matter!". In his message on the celebration, the
Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Koïchiro Matsuura appeals for the
importance of linguistic diversity and multilingualism to be
acknowledged everywhere - in education, administrative and legal
systems, in cultural expressions and in the media, cyberspace and
trade. "Let all the members of the United Nations family, all the
Member States, and partners and friends of UNESCO join together to
show that "languages matter", he says.


The promotion of languages and celebration of our cultural diversity
is held dearly by the African National Congress. This is because in
addition to the national goal of liberation, attained with the
democratic elections in 1994, the ANC has always sought to build a
non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa, united in her
diversity.

As we asserted in our Social Transformation Discussion Document ahead
of the 52nd National Conference and beyond, the ANC recognises that we
are at the beginning of a long journey to a truly united, democratic
and prosperous South Africa, in which the value of all citizens is
measured by their humanity, without regard to race, gender and social
status. We said: "Inspired by the Freedom Charter and the principles
enshrined in the Reconstruction and Development Programme, we continue
unabated with our social transformation programme, informed by the
democratic principles of the people-centred and people-driven state
and a value system based on human solidarity. These pillars are the
attributes of a caring society and it beckons us to forge a social
compact - made up of all races - that has, as its central objective of
social policy, the preservation and development of human resources,
including our languages and ensuring social cohesion".

Primary among the objectives of building this equal and just society
should be our collective determination to promote and celebrate our
multiculturalism, which gives our country its unique identity.

There should be a renewed effort at all levels to promote
multilingualism and the development of all official languages,
including the South African Sign Language and the languages referred
to in the South African Constitution. Our key institutions such as
government or parliament should assist us to promote the right to
diversity which is enshrined in our Constitution. Our Cabinet recently
instructed all government departments to establish language units, so
that information they produce can be made available to citizens in
their mother tongues. We trust that departments are taking this
executive directive seriously. Mass communication that is not done in
all 11 languages cannot serve the purpose of adequately communicating
to all South Africans. It is a challenge we must confront, and
overcome.

Education is fundamental to the achievement of the society envisaged
in the Freedom Charter. We have a responsibility to guide our children
who are growing up in an increasingly cosmopolitan environment, to
learn and speak as many of our official languages as possible. We have
to ensure that they do not develop any contempt for their mother
tongues, their communities of origin and their history.

Opportunities have come to the fore for such mother tongue promotion,
such as the introduction of the new School Pledge and the launch of
the new massive literacy drive soon. Children can be encouraged to
develop a sense of pride in their country as well as in their
languages if they also recite the School Pledge in different languages
depending on the region.

We also would better serve the interests of the majority of South
Africans, including our illiterate or semi-literate citizens, if we
concentrate on strengthening their command of their mother tongues in
addition to the skills of managing essential economic and social
processes. But this task is not the responsibility of government
alone. We all have a duty to promote our mother languages.

Our intelligentsia and authors could also begin to use mother tongues
more as languages of intellectual engagement and publishing. We should
be having books in our history being produced in mother tongues, for
our history and heritage to be accessible to all our people. It means
we must all also promote the reading of mother tongue literature in
our country. There are classics in isiZulu by authors such as BW
Vilakazi, Otty Nxumalo, CT Msimang and others, and in isiXhosa for
example Ingqumbo yeminyanya by AC Jordan and several others. These are
the types of books whose world will be shut forever to our youth who
still have to be introduced to mother tongue literature.

Our print media too, should ideally be available in more languages,
not just English and Afrikaans. It is a pity that a newspaper such as
Imvo Zabantsundu was closed down. Other than its rich history, it
would be playing a critical role of promoting mainstream reading and
interaction in the isiXhosa language. KwaZulu-Natal appears to be the
only province with a flourishing mother tongue media, with successful
commercial titles such as UMAFRIKA, Ilanga and Isolezwe as well as
several community papers in isiZulu. We need to replicate the formula
in other provinces. Here is a challenge to our current and budding
media owners! The market clearly exists, given the success of the
existing publications.

As Matsuura points out: "Languages are absolutely vital to the
identity of groups and individuals, and their peaceful coexistence.
They are a strategic factor in advances towards sustainable
development and the harmonious coordination of the global and the
local. Far from being a field reserved for analysis by specialists,
languages lie at the heart of all social, economic and cultural life".

May I in advance then, wish all South Africans and nations of the
world a Happy International Mother Language Day on the 21st.

Jacob Zuma is the president of the African National Congress of South
Africa. This is his online newsletter.

http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200802150738.html

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