Hon Speaker, hon guests and members, thank you very much.
Ndicela kuthi kuni, irholeni. Niyaphila bo? Ekhethu siyaphila. Akhe simamelane. [I would like to say to you: How are you? We are fine. Let us listen to each other.]
I have just spoken isiHlubi, which is the language that I speak at home, and unfortunately I can see that hon members cannot understand what I have just said.
I would like to quote Nelson Mandela, who once said:
If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.
The national conference of the ANC at Polokwane took a decision that indigenous languages be promoted at all schools, with the aim of learners being taught in their mother tongue. We link the development of indigenous languages with the liberation of our country from the legacy of apartheid.
The concept of indigenous languages refers to Sesotho, Setswana, Siswati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, IsiHlubi, IsiZulu and many other languages. I mention Afrikaans because we must take cognisance of the fact that Afrikaans is also an indigenous language. There are other indigenous languages that are called dialects by those who are learned, for example IsiMpondo, IsiBhaca, Khelobedu, Nama and Xirikwa.
My focus, inter alia, is on the promotion of indigenous languages and multilingualism in schools and tertiary institutions in our country. The reality of the situation in our country is that English is promoted at virtually all levels of society, at the expense of this country's indigenous languages. This causes problems particularly for students who do not speak English as their first language. It also promotes the perception that citizens and students who are not English-speaking are inferior and not entitled to equal treatment.
Even at places of work, some companies force African employees to speak English. Recently, employees who were speaking Xitsonga were fired. Teachers also contribute to this, because they tell children that they must first understand English, and that English must be spoken, even at home. If you go into African homes today, you will find that the culture is in decline. The children cannot speak any African language. They only speak English.
The Constitution recognises all 11 official languages of South Africa. These were all provided for by the Ready to Govern document of the ANC in 1992. Both the Ready to Govern document and the Constitution recognise the historically diminished use and status of the indigenous languages of our people.
Increasing pressure is being brought to bear on speakers of indigenous languages in order for them to receive instruction in our schools and universities in only one South African language that is not an indigenous language. Research shows that the African continent is the only continent where the majority of children start their schooling in a foreign language. Surely this must result in poor education and the marginalisation of our continent. You can express yourself better in your own home language. In government interviews, our own African people perform poorly because they are forced to speak English. It does not mean that the person does not know the job; the person fails the interview because they are forced to speak English. It is not that you are stupid, but the moment you speak English, people think you are clever. It is just a language!
Children from Afrikaans-speaking homes go to school, speak English at school, and when they return home they speak Afrikaans. I do not see why it is a challenge for our own Africans to do the same.
The perception that instruction in English is essential in order to be internationally competitive is considerably smaller outside developing countries. It is clear that most universities and schools in developed countries emphasise mother-tongue instruction. The schools and tertiary institutions that offer their instruction in English are those in the USA, the United Kingdom, Australia and so on. There, instruction takes place in English because English is the students' first language - it is their mother tongue. In countries such as Japan, Germany, France and Holland, instruction is offered in those students' mother tongues.
Where it is possible, regional co-operation should be encouraged. The Southern African Development Community, SADC, framework provides the most readily available structure for this. In the dissemination of human rights literature, special attention should be directed towards those whose voices have been silenced.
If you want to overthrow a country, you start by diminishing the language. You wipe out the language. That's what the apartheid policies did. They sought to eradicate our own languages, so that the people would not be united. Language also brings unity. It is part of culture and heritage. Some languages were marginalised to such an extent that we as Africans also say that other languages, like Tshivenda, Xitsonga and the Khoi and San languages, are inferior. Last weekend the President met with the Khoi, Nama and San people because they also want to revive their own languages.
Language loss separates people from the richness of their culture and heritage. It prevents them from living their full cultural identity. It weakens cultural traditions and leads to fragmentation and the loss of community. The dominant culture is subsequently deprived of such people's cultural diversity.
Language is one of the main tools that are used to express ideas, emotions, knowledge, memories and values. Language is also the main vehicle for the cultural expression that is essential for individual and collective identity. Language is very important in any culture. A language does far more than just allowing people to communicate with each other.
We are aware that there are costs involved in promoting indigenous languages at all levels of education. We are aware of the fact that the financial costs of multilingualism at schools and tertiary institutions are naturally higher than those at monolingual institutions. However, in our view of the diversity of South African society and the constitutional right to equality with regard to mother-tongue education, our government is obliged to make active policy decisions in favour of multilingualism. There are strong social and political reasons why funding is required for multilingual education.
English-only schools promote the loss of indigenous languages. If there is no financial support, then the goal of a multilingual, cohesive society is not going to be achieved. In addition, indigenous languages cannot be implemented effectively. It is therefore important to mention that the promotion of indigenous languages and multilingualism will also make schools and tertiary education more accessible for students of all language groups. This would mean an enormous boost for quality education and the economy. It is time for us as African students to write dissertations, reports and assignments in our own languages. Imagine if I wrote my reports in isiXhosa - I would pass all my dissertations as a Master's student!