By Daniela Ellerbeck and Alfred Mahkuntsu on behalf of the FW de Klerk Foundation on 23/10/2024

*This article was first published as an opinion piece in eNCA in September 2024.

Introduction:

The South African Constitution protects our diverse cultures, religions and languages by enshrining various cultural, religious and linguistic rights. It also requires the State (local, provincial and national government) to use the official languages in its communication with us, its citizens (section 6(3) of the Constitution). When we remember that English spoken as a first language by only 10% of South Africans, the necessity of a multilingual State becomes immediately apparent. This National Heritage Month provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the State’s multilingual communication.

Local government:

Municipalities must consider their residents’ language preferences, usage and the special needs of those who cannot read and write when communicating information. It is wonderful to see how some municipalities appear to be excelling in this:

The eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal (“KZN”), for example, has adopted a multilingual policy that aims to ensure that all eThekwini Municipality’s residents can have access to services and information. The policy prioritises isiZulu while also accommodating English and Afrikaans, because 80,9% of people in KZN speak isiZulu. This initiative shows the commitment to inclusivity by providing services in KZN in the languages most residents are familiar with.

The District of Sekhukhune’s language policy emphasises the use of Sepedi to reflect the linguistic reality of the area. (Census results show that the district’s languages are Sepedi (80,9%), English (13,6%), IsiNdebele (2,3%) and Afrikaans (1,5%).)

The City of Cape Town also adopted a language policy that includes Afrikaans, English and isiXhosa in its official communications with its residents. This policy aims to ensure effective communication with the diverse linguistic communities within the city while addressing the needs of its residents.

We also see the Emfuleni Local Municipality hosting the 2^nd Annual Indigenous Language Champ Awards in 2024. Initiatives such as this are important for preserving linguistic heritage and encouraging the use of indigenous languages in public life.

However, municipalities still face some challenges in incorporating multilingualism due to, amongst other things: financial limitations (this is especially true for rural municipalities) making it difficult for them to allocate funds for language training, translation and interpretation services in multiple languages.  Then of course, there is the fact there is limited infrastructure and often a shortage of staff with proficiency in these languages.

It has to be said, that despite these challenges, the Pan-South African Language Board (“PanSALB”) has been very helpful in raising awareness of language rights and providing support to language-related initiatives. It has done so by launching campaigns to educate the public and government institutions on the importance of multilingualism, especially with the recognition of SASL as an official language.

National government:

The Use of Official Languages Act, 2012 regulates national government’s use of official languages for government purposes. It requires all national departments, public entities and public enterprises to use at least three (3) official languages in its communication with the public.

However, In a February 2024 report PanSALB audited across 22 national departments’ and 18 public entities’ compliance with the Use of Official Languages Act, 2012, noting that an ultimate goal was to minimise linguistic barriers to ensure equitable access to socioeconomic services for all South Africans. It found that, inter alia:

• There was concerning gap between policy formulation and its practical execution in many departments and entities;
• Compliance was low – in fact the report found that national departments and public entities had an average compliance rating of only 35,87% and 42% respectively; and
• Accessibility of services in a language members of the public understood was substantially low – something that PanSALB points out was sought to be justified by reasons of practicality and expense, but which inadvertently shift the responsibility to provide understandable information from government to the public, who was expected to request such information be made available in a language they understood.

PanSALB made 12 recommendations to address government’s poor adherence to the Act, the most important of which are significantly investing in staff and a centralised language resource repository, as well as using technology to ensure access to government services in all official languages and encouraging strategic partnerships to support the advancement and implementation of language policies.

Provincial government:

The following provinces have promulgated laws to regulate their use of official languages: