01/Land&People!! 12/12/200309:10amPage1 Shaun Harris/PictureNET 01/Land&People!! 12/12/2003 09:10 am Page 1 chapter 1 The land and its people South Africa is a country where various sisting of the Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi); cultures merge to form a unique nation, the Sotho-Tswana people, who include the proud of its heritage. Southern, Northern and Western Sotho The country boasts some of the world’s (Tswana); the Tsonga; the Venda; Afrikaners; most breathtaking scenery and features an the English; coloureds; Indians, and those who amazing display of bird and wildlife species, have immigrated to South Africa from the which include the well-known Big Five (lion, rest of Africa, Europe and Asia and maintain leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino). a strong cultural identity. A few members of South Africa’s biggest asset is its people; a the Khoi and the San also live in South Africa. rainbow nation with rich and diverse cultures. South Africa is often called the cradle of Languages humankind, for this is where archaeologists The South African Constitution, 1996 (Act 108 discovered 2,5-million-year-old fossils of our of 1996), states that everyone has the right to earliest ancestors, as well as 100 000-year- use the language and to participate in the old remains of modern man. cultural life of his or her choice, but no one may do so in a manner inconsistent with any The people provision of the Bill of Rights. Each person also has the right to instruction in the lan- The results of the second democratic Census guage of his or her choice where this is rea- (Census 2001) were released in July 2003. sonably practicable. On the night of 10 October 2001, there were 44 819 778 people in South Africa. Of Official languages these, 79% classified themselves as African; To cater for South Africa’s diverse peoples, 9,6% as white; 8,9% as coloured; and 2,5% as the Constitution provides for 11 official lan- Indian/Asian. guages, namely Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, A total of 21 685 415 people in South isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, Africa are male, and 23 662 839 female. siSwati, Tshivenda and Xitsonga. The South African population consists of Recognising the historically diminished use the following groups: the Nguni people (con- and status of the indigenous languages, the Constitution expects government to imple- ment positive measures to elevate the status Although South Africans come from many and advance the use of these languages. cultural traditions, they belong to one nation, a dynamic blend of age-old customs and According to Census 2001, isiZulu is the modern ways, building a South African mother tongue of 23,8% of the population, society to create a better life for all. followed by isiXhosa (17,6%), Afrikaans 1 01/Land&People!! 12/12/2003 09:10 am Page 2 South Africa Yearbook 2003/04 (13,3%), Sepedi (9,4%), and English and Considering the nature and the history of Setswana (8,2% each). the previously marginalised languages, more The least spoken indigenous language in effort will have to be put into the development South Africa is isiNdebele, which is spoken by of these languages. 1,6% of the population. There is a need to identify priority areas with a view of supporting existing structures for the Language policy development of these languages. It is impor- The National Language Policy Framework tant to note that the implementation of the (NLPF) was launched in 2003 and is guided by NLPF will increase the demand for translation the following principles: and editing work and interpreting services, • promoting and protecting linguistic and especially in the African languages. cultural diversity The growing need for the services of profes- • supporting democracy through entrench- sional language practitioners will create a ment of language equity and language rights demand for further training and educational • asserting the view that multilingualism is a resources. This will result in job opportunities resource for people who are linguistically skilled and will • encouraging the learning of other South contribute to poverty alleviation in South African languages. Africa. The National Language Service (NLS) will lay The Department of Arts and Culture has the basis for the South African Languages Bill. taken steps to promote the indigenous Despite the fact that some groundwork has languages of South Africa. already been done by the NLS relating to the One of the projects viewed critically by the language provisions set out in the Constitution, Department in terms of bringing services to the NLPF calls for more radical implementation the people, is the Telephone Interpreting strategies. Service of South Africa (TISSA). The NLPF is a national framework which will The NLS has also produced a multilingual have to be implemented by provincial and local AIDS Manual containing substantial terminol- governments. It is critical that these levels of ogy that should help to bridge the gap governance align their language policies with between different language communities and the NLPF. They will also have to take into the primary healthcare providers who serve account regional circumstances and the needs them. and preferences of local communities. The NLS has also focused on education-ter- minology projects, particularly for the natural sciences and technology, the economic and management sciences, and the human and South Africa has 12 public holidays: social sciences. New Year’s Day – 1 January The NLS is committed to preventing the Human Rights Day – 21 March Good Friday – Friday before Easter Sunday country’s languages, specifically the African Family Day – Monday after Easter Sunday languages, from losing their functionality and Freedom Day – 27 April becoming redundant. The NLS regards the Workers’ Day – 1 May Youth Day – 16 June development of human language technologies National Women’s Day – 9 August as imperative if online dictionaries, terminolo- Heritage Day – 24 September Day of Reconciliation – 16 December gy lists and other products are to be provided Christmas Day – 25 December in all 11 official languages of South Africa, Day of Goodwill – 26 December If any of these days falls on a Sunday, the including spellcheckers for the 10 indigenous following Monday becomes a public holiday. languages. 2 01/Land&People!! 12/12/2003 09:10 am Page 3 The land and its people Telephone Interpreting Service with the public (information brochures, annual of South Africa reports, letters, and to a lesser extent, govern- The TISSA was launched in March 2002. This is ment notices and bills). For internal commu- a ground-breaking project to facilitate access nication purposes, documents are mainly to public services in South Africans’ languages created in English. Internal newsletters are of choice. often produced in more than one language. In this project, interpreters bridge language Hansard, a verbatim record of the Parlia- barriers via telephone. It is the first project of mentary debate, contains all speeches in the its kind in South Africa. language(s) in which they were delivered, The TISSA is a project of the Department of followed by an English translation where Arts and Culture and is jointly funded by the necessary. Pan South African Language Board (PaNSALB). The NLPF provides for multilingual Hansard With TISSA, the Department is on par with publications which, in the case of provincial international standards of well-known tele- legislatures, will use languages as determined phone interpreting services in other multilingual by regional circumstances. countries such as Australia, the United States of America and many European countries. Pan South African Language Board TISSA caters for the needs of the speakers of The purpose of the Board is to promote the 11 official languages of South Africa, thus multilingualism in South Africa by: promoting the use of indigenous languages. By • creating conditions for the development and April 2003, TISSA was operational in about 40 equal use of all official languages police stations countrywide. • fostering respect for and encouraging the A videophone facility for sign-language use of other languages in the country interpreting was launched in August 2002. • encouraging the best use of the country’s linguistic resources to enable South Language usage in government Africans to free themselves from all forms National and provincial governments may use of linguistic discrimination, domination and any two or more official languages for the division. purposes of government, taking into account The functions of PaNSALB are to: usage, practicality, expense, regional circum- • initiate research to promote the develop- stances and the needs and preferences of the ment of population. The Constitution states that all -all official languages official languages should enjoy parity of esteem -the Khoi and San languages and be treated equitably. -South African Sign Language National departments tend to produce • initiate research aimed at multilingual documents for communication -developing previously marginalised languages in South Africa -strengthening rights relating to language and the status of languages (as at A national Multilingualism Consultative Con- 27 April 1994) ference, entitled The Future of Multilingualism in South Africa: From Policy to Practice, was held in -promoting multilingualism Johannesburg in June 2003. -utilising South Africa’s language re- The aim of the Conference was to discuss and consult stakeholders on whether the South sources and preventing exploitation, African Languages Bill captures the spirit of domination and division by any language the Constitution’s provisions on language, and whether it appropriately reflects the content of -making recommendations on language the National Language Policy Framework. legislation, practice and policy 3 01/Land&People!! 12/12/2003 09:10 am Page 4 South Africa Yearbook 2003/04 -advising on the co-ordination of language The Government supports the development planning in South Africa. and preservation of languages within a bilingual PaNSALB may on its own initiative, or upon or multilingual policy.