INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY CELEBRATION AND PROMOTION OF MOTHER TONGUE BY ARTS AND CULTURE DEPARTMENT (Minister's Response)

THE MINISTER OF SPORT, ARTS AND CULTURE: House Chairperson, thank you very much hon Seabi for observing a very important event, which is the International Mother Language Day. Every year the department gives bursaries to students studying languages in major universities like Wits University, University of Cape Town, University of Johannesburg, and so on.

Firstly, we do this because it is quite important to emphasise the importance of mother tongue because our erstwhile colonisers couldn't annihilate our languages, so we should continue to preserve them for posterity. Secondly, in Makhanda area, we have taken a decision to change the National English Literary Museum to be Amazwi South African Museum of Literature so that it doesn't only develop English, but it also develops IsiXhosa in the Makhanda area.

The last point is a call to our compatriots - especially white compatriots, to start learning African languages, especially basics, as it will augur well for social cohesion. We need to do that. We had a young lady there from Italy who was learning African languages - IsiZulu and IsiXhosa. If foreigners can do that, surely, South Africans can. Thank you very much.