THE Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) has expressed concern about the KwaZulu-Natal government’s lack of political will to promote the use of isiZulu as the language of official communication and teaching.
The board said KwaZulu-Natal and North West were the only two provinces that did not have a language act to protect against indigenous languages disappearing.
PanSALB provincial director Jabulani Simelane said other provinces had the Use of Official Languages Act.
“In KwaZulu-Natal, we are supposed to have the Use of Official Language Act, but we don’t have it. We are still behind,” said Simelane.
He said teaching various subjects or lessons in isiXhosa was brought in as a pilot project in Eastern Cape. It had proved to be a success story, with Grade 12 pupils given the choice of writing papers in isiXhosa.
“Whoever wants to write in isiXhosa writes in isiXhosa, whoever wants to write in English, writes in English.
“We had previously seen that a number of pupils were dropping out before matric or others not be able to get an exemption, but after introducing isiXhosa in all subjects, the result started to improve.
“Nelson Mandela said ‘If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language then it goes to his heart’ because he does not need to waste time thinking about the meaning of the words,” he said.
He challenged the KwaZulu-Natal Arts and Culture Department to explain why the province still did not have the language act.
KwaZulu-Natal Sport, Arts and Culture spokesperson Ntando Mnyandu said the province currently had the Provincial Languages Bill, which was still under review.
“Once the Bill has been approved by Cabinet in the 2025/26 financial year and the legislation is in place, it is expected that the Department of Education will implement the Act which will lead to the improvement of the quality of education.
“Once the Legislation is approved it will assist in the implementation of multilingualism by various government departments, municipalities, and other statutory bodies,” said Mnyandu.
Simelane said the act would make it easier to implement the newly passed Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act.
Simelane said it was also wrong that some of the former Model C schools still insisted that pupils speak in English inside and outside school premises and discouraged parents from using mother tongues when speaking to their children at home.
“It is wrong because it is not fair to us black people, it is not fair to Afrikaans speakers, to be forced to speak English, which is a foreign language.
“Indigenous languages need to be spoken anywhere. You will never dream in English even if you go to stay in America. You will dream in isiZulu, your mother tongue,” he said.
He said the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) was leading by example as it had incorporated South Africa’s indigenous languages in teaching and learning.
“Architecture was translated to isiZulu in 2020 and even the law was translated into isiZulu,” said Simelane.
On the Universities South Africa website, former UKZN students spoke about the benefits of studying in their mother tongue, which was isiZulu.
Mawethu Jauza said he conducted research in isiZulu lexicography for his honours and PhD and excelled academically because he was able to understand the contents of his modules easily. When he wrote, he was able to express his opinions and ideas.
“Chances are, that person may not be able to articulate their thoughts as accurately. So, introducing isiZulu as one of the academic languages helped students reach their full potential. I am a testament to that,” he was quoted as saying.
Sthembiso Phoswa also commended the university for incorporating isiZulu in all his subjects.
“When I arrived at the university in 2015 and got to speak my mother tongue in academic settings, I felt recognised. I felt like I had a voice within higher education,” he said.
Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube, of the DA, who raised eyebrows when she failed to attend the ceremony in which President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Bella Bill into law at the Union Building this month, also expressed support for schools teaching pupils in their month languages.
“Children are never going to learn at the level we need them to learn unless we embrace the languages of their birth and use the language of their birth to make sure that they achieve academic excellence,” she said at a heritage ceremony at Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in Johannesburg on Monday.
She also wrote on her X account: “We come together to reflect on the Mother Tongue-Based Bilingual Education (MTbBE) program, its journey, and its promise for the future of education in South Africa.”
The bill, which Gwarube and her party did not fully support because of the school admission and language policy, seeks to ensure that indigenous languages would be used effectively in academic institutions.
Section 29(2) of the Bill of Rights states that children or learners have a right to be taught in the language of their choice in public education institutions.
The DA said it feared disempowering SGBs from determining schools’ language policies without an appeals mechanism.