17 April 2020 Josie McDermott

R.R.S. Stewart LIB 220-04

Multiple Languages
My name is Elizabeth January and I am a part of the National Party. For those of you that

do not know who I am, I am a coloured woman that is very proud of her Africanner heritage. I

am a lawyer, wife of a doctor, and have children. I was elected to Parliament two years ago, and

settled into my role as an advocate for cultural and national identity. As part of this, I believe that

social and political changes should not compromise heritage and identity. As conflict between

different groups of South Africa arise, more and more changes are going to have to be made to

make South Africa a nation that reflects all of its people. From the more important things such

as, what will be included in South Africa’s constitution, to smaller things such as, what will the

nation's official languages be listed as. All of these key details need to be considered when

deciding what will be the next step for the nation, and need to be thought out carefully. There has

been much tension between the different groups in society, which have been increasing and need

to be settled. “The National Administration Act separated all policies concerning Africans from

the rest of the government (Clark, 22). This should not be. All people, from all ethnic

backgrounds, should be reflected and included in the government. Due to this, I believe that

moving forward, South Africa should include all 11 languages. Keeping the 11 languages is more

reflective of our unique culture, and represents all of the diverse groups in our nation.

South Africa is a large nation with a lot of different people from a lot of different groups.

Each of these groups have their own culture, traditions, and languages. “There are 11 languages

in South Africa, which belong to two language families: 2 Germanic and 9 Bantu. Each language

is spoken as a first language by a relatively distinct cultural group,” (Nel). About 70% of people

in South Africa speak one of the Bantu languages (Lilly). Having 11 different languages reflects
the true culture of South Africa more than having one official language. Who is to say that we

have to change the cultures of these groups? If we elect one official language, these groups will

be more prone to stop speaking in their native tongue, and speak the official language, whatever

that may be. The diversity of people and language is what makes South Africa so unique. All of

these languages are special to each of these groups, and none of them should have to go. I think

that people from a bunch of different cultures have the capability of all being equal and getting

along together as one.

Having the diversity in culture also creates the opportunity for different groups to learn

more about one another and become more united as a nation. “It means the cultivation and

confirmation of national consciousness, national pride, national calling, and national destiny,”

(Clark, 28). If different groups learn how to communicate with each other peacefully, South

Africa will become stronger as a nation, and we will be one step closer toward ending apartheid.

As part of ending apartheid, different groups will have to come together and understand each

other through each others point of view. Once apartheid ends, different groups will have the

opportunity to learn about different cultures and coexist peacefully. They then can learn more

about one another and befriend each other.

On the other hand, some may argue that there should only be one official language

for a couple reasons. The first of them being that different groups will not understand each

other. Therefore, avoid contact with one another. The second reason is that, if apartheid ends

shouldn’t we want to make the people in South Africa more similar, so they will be more likely

to get along? These statements are both wrong, and I will tell you why.
 First, most people in South Africa speak more than one language. Therefore,

communication between groups will not be a problem. “English is commonly spoken and

understood by people in all groups,” (Nel). Therefore, even though a lot of groups have a

different first language most people can still effectively communicate and understand one

another. Second of all, I acknowledge that as part of the National Party, I am in favor of the

ending of apartheid. This means I think the different groups of South Africa should not be

seperate anymore and be seen as one equal unit. Some may interpret this as all the people in

South Africa should share the same heritage and languages. However, this is wrong. It means

that the different groups should get along and all be seen as equal to one another. That some

groups do not look down upon other groups and can dominate those other groups. It means that

all groups should accept one another, despite their differences in heritage. Therefore, all these

different groups should have their main language represented in South Africa’s official language.

Overall, South Africa is a very diverse country with so many different people. South

Africa should reflect upon all of these different people. It is not fair to certain groups if their

culture is not reflected in this country. South Africa should be proud of all of the different types

of people it has. It should reflect all of them, which would be one step closer to reducing the

hostility between groups if they are all seen as equal.

 Citations

Clark, Nancy L., and William H. Worger, South Africa: The rise and fall of apartheid. (Third

Edition), Routledge, (2016), p. 122-128

Eby, John C., and Fred Morton, The collapse of apartheid and the dawn of democracy in South

Africa, 1993. Reacting, (2017), p.

Lilly, & Marjorie. (1982, March 1). Language policy and oppression in South Africa. Retrieved

from https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/languag

e-policy-and-oppression-south-africa

Nel, J. A., Valchev, V. H., Rothmann, S., Vijver, F. J. R., Meiring, D., & Bruin, G. P. (2012).

Exploring the personality structure in the 11 languages of south africa. Journal of

Personality, 80(4), 915–948. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2011.00751.x