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Abstract:
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“Indigenous languages are heritage in danger” These are the words of the chairperson of the South African Heritage
Council, advocate Sonwabile Mancotywa addressing structures of Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) on 03rd August 2012
at the Birchwood Hotel in Johannesburg. This is true as it is proven that even writing and publishing in Indigenous languages seem to
be faced with many challenges. These challenges were orchestrated by the imposition of English and Afrikaans over the Indigenous
Languages. This led to many decades of the undermining of the indigenous languages which saw very little material written in these
languages. Indigenous languages even today are not seen as languages of economy. This therefore implies that speakers of these
languages, more specially those in rural areas are deprived of socio-economic empowerment.
Afrikaners fought the British around 1899-1902 pushing matters of the Taal-Stryd. Lord Alfred Miller, the High Commissioner of South
Africa between 1897 and 1905 made sure that English is well placed above Afrikaans. The establishment of the Volktaal also looked at
promoting Afrikaans language. At times, the indigenous languages were relegated only to the Bantustan (Homelands).
Afrikaans was given a huge boost by state and was developed into a second language of the country. The dawn of democracy saw
indigenous languages accorded the official status. However, it is still difficult for the emerging publishers to publish material in these
languages unless the material is prescribed for schools. If publishers get it hard to publish, then writers also get no encouragement for
writing. The language barrier impacts negatively on rural development due to limited or no exposure of rural communities to economic
activities.
This paper explains the necessary interventions to make sure the indigenous languages continue to be written and published, with
recommendations directed to both government institutions and the private sector. The paper also indicates the negative impact on rural
development caused by little or no material published in indigenous languages. |