Hon Speaker ... nabo bonke abakule Ndlu, ingakumbi abo bakwaDlangamandla naseMazizini, ndiyanibulisa ngegama leNkosi.
Okokuqala, manditsho ukuba akukho nto ibuhlungu njengokuba abantwana abasesikolweni bekhuthazwa ukuba bathethe iilwimi ezingezizo ezakumawabo ngamaxesha onke. Okona kuhlupha kakhulu kukuba umntwana wam ubuya esikolweni andixelele ukuba kufunwa into edla imali engamawaka amabini, kube kufunwa loo mawaka mabini ke. Xa ndibuza ukuba yintoni na le ifunwayo, impendulo ithi yi-"horizombotech". Kunakaloku nje ndisafuna ootishala ukuze bandichazele ukuba yintoni na loo nto.
Andikhange ndichaze ukuba andiyazi loo nto kwaye andazi nokuba niyayazi na nina. Ndiwakhuphile amawaka amabini kodwa ndisakhangela ukuba yintoni na i- "horizombotech". Noxa kunjalo, ndiyaqonda ukuba le "horizombotech" yinto enxulumene nobuxhakaxhaka bale mihla, andibazi ke obu buxhakaxhaka bale mihla.
Ingqeqesho iqala ekhaya. Kuba buhlungu xa usiva abantwana bethu bethetha isiNgesi xa bencokola koololiwe naseziteksini. Kuloo meko uye uzibuze ukuba ingaba aba bantwana bayalwazi okanye abalwazi kusini na ulwimi lwabo. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[... and everyone in this House, especially those who belong to Dlangamandla and aMazizi clans, I greet you in the name of the Lord.
Firstly, I must say that there is nothing as painful as having children being encouraged at school to speak languages that are not their vernacular all the time. What worries me most is that my child comes back telling me that at school they need something that costs R2 000 and that R2 000 must be paid. When I ask what the name of that thing is, the answer was "horizombotech". I still need teachers to tell me what that is.
I did not mention that I am clueless and I don't know whether you know about it. I have paid the R2 000 but I still need information on this "horizombotech". However, I am certain that this "horizombotech" has something to do with today's technology, and I have no idea about today's technology.
Charity begins at home. It is very sad to listen to our children having a conversation in English in the trains and taxis. In those cases you end up wondering whether these children know their mother tongue or not.] Because Cope supports the eli gama ndingazi kulibiza kakuhle, ndingalichaniyo words that I cannot pronounce correctly, and which I do not know] of our indigenous languages, the only problem we foresee is how this will be achieved. We all know that the devil is in the details. How do we bring our languages back into prominence when political leadership - especially the ruling party - communicates with children in English after the elections ... [Interjections.] ... when instruments of public communication like the South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, use slang language like "fo sho" [for sure] and spell uMzantsi incorrectly, and when the Chapter 1 institution, the Pan South African Language Board, PanSALB, is still bogged down in legal action instead of pursuing its constitutional mandate of actively promoting the development of previously marginalised languages, among other things?
I read somewhere that it is easier for a six-year-old to learn to speak a new language fluently - ndilibize kakuhle andithi eli gama? [I have pronounced this word correctly, haven't I?] [Interjections.] - than it is for a 16- or 26-year-old. I therefore disagree and Training with the Minister of Higher Education and Training on his call to force university students to study at least one African language as a condition to graduate.
Umthi ugotywa uselula. [Bend the tree while it is still young.]
I also disagree with the - eliny' igama endingalichani kakuhle [another word that I don't really know ] - PanSALB chief executive officer's call that government must make it a policy that if you want a government job, you have to know an African language. He made this statement in support of the Minister of Higher Education and Training's call.
I do not think that he really believes in what he said, taking into consideration what he wrote in his personal capacity on Facebook about 16 June, where he was accusing a number of people, including the President, parents and state institutions of violating language rights ... [Time expired.]
Ukufa kusembizeni. Enkosi. [Kwaqhwatywa.] [The enemy is within. Thank you. [Applause.]]
uSolwazi C T MSIMANG: Mhlonishwa Sihlalo, okokuqala ngizohalalisela umhlonishwa uSunduza, ngokuqhamuka ngesihloko esibaluleke kangaka ukuba kuxoxwe ngaso kule Ndlu. Sengimhalalisele bese ngiba nokudabuka ukuthi silinde kwaze kwaphela iminyaka eyi-17 ukuba sixoxe ngalesi sihloko.
Kuleyo minyaka eyi-17 besibona ukusetshenziswa kwezilimi zesintu kuya ngokuya kuncipha, kanti ukusetshenziswa kwesiNgisi kuya ngokuya kukhula. Namhlanje ngisho abavakashi abavela phesheya nxa behla esikhumulweni sezindiza, into yokuqala abayibonayo ukuthi izwe abafike kulo ngelamaNgisi.Zonke izazisi ezichaza ngokwenzekayo nokuthi indawo ethile ikuphi, zibhalwe ngesiNgisi.
Namhlanje uthi nxa ufika ezinkantolo noma ezinkundleni zamacala, ufice ukuthi bonke abasenkundleni ukusuka kummangali ngumuntu wase-Afrika kuye kummangalelwa kuze kuyofika kuyo imantshi, ngisho ijaji imbala.Kodwa bonke laba bantu bakhuluma ngesiNgisi, ongasazi - ikakhulukazi ummangalelwa angamane afunelwe utolika ukuze amchazele konke ngesiZulu.
Uyadabuka ukuthi izakhiwo zikahulumeni nezinhlaka zakhe ziningi kangakanani ukuthuthukisa izilimi zethu, kodwa uma usubuka ukuthi imiphumela injani, uthola ukuthi kunokuba zithuthuke ungazi zibuyela emuva. Uma kukhulunya ngokuthuthukisa kwezilimi zesintu sisuke sibheka ikakhulukazi ukuthi sezikhona yini izichazamazwi, ubheka ukuthi iyathuthuka yini imibhalo ebhalwe ngalolu limi, imibhalo yobuchwepheshe njengamanoveli.
Usuke ubheka ukuthi zitsetshenziswa kangakanani ekufundiseni izingane zesikole. Uthole ukuthi konke lokhu akwenzeki. Bese ubona ukuthi ngempela ngempela kusuka kuhulumeni wobandlululo kuya kuhulumeni wentando yabantu, iqhaza elibanjwe yizilimi zesintu liye ngokuya lincipha kunokuthi likhule. Okudabukisayo kakhulu ukuthi kwenzeke ngesikhathi sekuphethe abantu abamnyama. Ngithokoze. [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu speech follows.)
[Prof C T MSIMANG: Hon Chairperson, firstly I would like to congratulate the hon Sunduza for coming up with such an important topic to be debated in this House. After congratulating her, I am filled with sadness that we waited for 17 years to talk about this topic.
During those 17 years we saw the use of indigenous languages gradually dwindling, whereas the use of the English language kept on growing. Even today the first thing visitors from abroad see when they land is that the country they have arrived in belongs to the English people. All the signs indicating the names of different places are written in English.
Nowadays when you get to the courts you find that everybody in court - the complainant, the defendant, the magistrate, and the judge - is black. All these people speak English, and the one who is not fluent in English, especially the defendant, could be assigned an interpreter so that he or she can explain everything in isiZulu to the defendant.
You become sad when you realise how many resources and structures government has made available to develop our languages, but when you look at the results, you find that instead of developing they seem to be regressing. When we talk about the development of our indigenous languages we generally look at the availability of dictionaries and whether the literary works produced in that language are developed - the creative works such as novels.
You look at how much they are used as the medium of instruction at schools. You find that this does not happen and you realise that all this started with the apartheid government, up to this democratic government. The role played by indigenous languages keeps on dwindling instead of growing. It is pathetic that this is happening when black people are in power. Thank you. [Applause.]]