'African languages under threat' - authors

By Nadia Samie
10 April 2008

African languages in South Africa are under threat, the Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo Jordan was told at an imbizo at Stellenbosch University yesterday.

Authors and academics told the minister that the lack of legislation to enforce the protection and usage of African languages could lead to the erosion of siXhosa and other local languages. This is further compounded by a serious shortage of new written material in African languages, partly due to reluctance on the part of publishing companies’.

The meeting between the minister, the MEC for Cultural Affairs and Sport Whitey Jacobs and the authors was arranged to put on the table matters that concerned them. These include: the marginalisation of isiXhosa in schools – in particular at so-called former model C schools – and at government departments and in the private sector. The authors want government to introduce legislation that will enforce the use of all official languages. They claim that while the constitution recognizes 11 official languages, this is only good on paper, as there are no attempts to give practical effect to the legislation. They echoed a call by Education Minister Naledi Pandor for teaching in mother tongue at the foundation phase to aid the development of less-prioritised African languages.

Publishing companies also came under fire by the authors – they are accused of not supporting enough work produced in African languages.