Pan South African Languages Board

[Harold F. Schiffman]

Pan South African Languages Board

Self-assessment: none
Our assessment: 5/10

The steward and protector of multilingualism, the Pan South African
Languages Board (Pansalb) is less effective than it used to be. In 2003,
Pansalb worked with the department of arts and culture to draw up the
South African Languages Bill and develop national policy. Pansalb started
a campaign to raise awareness of the individuals right to be served in the
language of his or her choice at government institutions, but it has
subsequently fizzled out.

Despite efforts such as the lexicography units -- which have, among other
things, translated specialist knowledge books into various languages and
are publishing dictionaries in nine indigenous languages multilingualism
is only marginally more visible in the public service, public discourse
and the mass media. Internal structural and capacity problems have also
hampered the boards efficiency. One look at the organisations website,
which is currently malfunctioning, reveals that Pansalb has way too many
focus areas -- language in education, lexicography and terminology
development, research and development, translation and interpreting,
linguistic human rights and mediation -- many of which could be outsourced
to organisations with the capacity to carry them out. The unanimous view
of members of the various language bodies is that the R39million that
Pansalb has been allocated for the 2006/07 financial year is simply spread
too thin for the board to institute meaningful change. Recruitment and the
retention of skilled staff has also been a problem.

Language experts abound in the country but the board does not reflect
this. Stakeholders, while acknowledging the board to be bloated and
increasingly bureaucratic, concede that it operates within a difficult
environment, where role players such as business and the media are often
unwilling to interact. This leaves the language policy, which basically
states that students have a right to choose their language of instruction.
This is idealistic at best as English still maintains a hegemony over
interaction in the job market.

Through more vigorous interaction with other sectors, a system can be
created to foster a greater demand for indigenous African languages in the
fields of medicine, social work, teaching and the military as the jobs
entail communicating with people who speak African languages. -- Kwanele
Sosibo

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=290663&area=/insight/insight__national/

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