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<h1 id="content_title">SA is rich in undervalued languages, but greedy for more</h1>
<p>04 Sep 2015 00:00
<a class="" href="http://mg.co.za/author/neo-lekgotla-laga-ramoupi">Neo Lekgotla laga Ramoupi</a></p>
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<p>"We are such a multilingual country, but in government, when you hear people talk, you think we are a bilingual country"</p>
<a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2015-09-03-sa-is-rich-in-undervalued-languages-but-greedy-for-more" title="">
<img src="http://cdn.mg.co.za/crop/content/images/2013/05/23/graph_landscape.jpg/676x380/" alt="(Cassandra Johnson)" height="380" width="676">
</a>
<p style="">
On July 16, the minister of basic education, Angie Motshekga, released
Circular S10 of 2015: “Incremental Implementation of Mandarin as a
Nonofficial Language from 2016 to 2018”. It was signed off by acting
director general Paddy SG Padayachee.</p>
<p style=""> This raises serious questions about the implementation of
the Use of Official Languages Act, 2012, which took effect on May 2
2013, after it was approved by President Jacob Zuma.
Parliament promulgated this legislation to regulate the use of official
languages in government.</p>
<p style=""> To avoid confusion, let us be clear about what the
Constitution says. In section 6, on languages, it states: “The official
languages of the Republic are Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati,
Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and
isiZulu.” It appends “the Khoi, Nama and San languages; and Sign
language”.</p>
<p style=""> Section 6 recognises “the historically diminished use and
status of the indigenous languages of our people” and says “the state
must take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and
advance the use of these languages”.</p>
<p style=""> It says the “national government and provincial governments
may use any particular official languages for the purposes of
government, taking into account usage, practicality, expense, regional
circumstances and the balance of the needs and preferences of the
population … but the national government and each provincial government
must use at least two official languages”.</p>
<p style=""> The Act calls for the adoption of a language policy and the
establishment of a national language unit and says the policy should
“happen within 18 months of the commencement of the Act”. That deadline
was not met by national departments or public entities or enterprises.</p>
<p style=""> The consequence of our collective failure to meet this
deadline forced the minister of arts and culture, Nathi Mthethwa, at the
end of October 2014, to extend the deadline to May 2 2015. He said he
was concerned about the “slow progress” of implementation.</p>
<p style=""> Mthethwa granted the extension on condition that a status
report on progress be received by the end of January 2015, that policies
be gazetted for public comment by the end of March and be adopted by
May.</p>
<p style=""> In February 2015, the arts and culture department ran a
workshop on the implementation of the 2012 Act. Its acting director
general, Vuyo Jack, gave details on progress: of the 36 government
departments, only four have approved a language policy, five have draft
policies, and 26 government departments have not reported or submitted
anything.</p>
<p style=""> Almost all these departments are led by ministers and
director generals who are African and black – and we’re talking about
the implementation of African languages policies in the workplace, 21
years into our liberation!</p>
<p style=""> In her remarks at the workshop, the deputy minister of arts
and culture, Thizwilondi Rejoice Mabudafhasi, said: “This Act deepens
our democracy.”</p>
<p style=""> She mentioned a visit to the Turfloop campus of the
University of Limpopo, in Polokwane, where she said students asked her:
“Are we going to get jobs? We speak Sepedi. If we study Sepedi, are we
going to get jobs?” Her answer was that all the official languages
require qualified translators and editors, and those are jobs waiting to
be filled.</p>
<p style=""> In theory, this is so. In practice, however, we are not
translating memos and work documents into the official African
languages: they are always written and communicated in Afrikaans or
English, in some case both. As another workshop participant said: “We
are such a multilingual country, but in government, when you hear people
talk, you will think we are a bilingual country.”</p>
<p style=""> In this context, it is hard not to perceive the publication
of Circular S10 of 2015 as a sign that Mandarin is becoming more of an
official language than our African languages. Why should we be teaching
Mandarin to African children when, in their homeland, there is no
African language policy in education in place and implemented?</p>
<p style=""> Afrikaans and English continue to be the official languages
of business, education and commerce, whereas the majority of South
Africans have not had their languages affirmed. This is tantamount to
the assassination of our African languages.</p><p style=""><a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2015-09-03-sa-is-rich-in-undervalued-languages-but-greedy-for-more">http://mg.co.za/article/2015-09-03-sa-is-rich-in-undervalued-languages-but-greedy-for-more</a><br></p><p style=""><br></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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