Ngiyabonga Sihlalo. [Thank you, Chairperson.]
I have just received a note stating that I introduced this topic but I'm also speaking English. My home language is isiHlubi, which is not recognised in the Constitution, and I was told that there is no interpreter for isiHlubi. That is why I'm speaking English. It is one of the indigenous languages. I am not a Xhosa, but a Hlubi woman. Yingakho uma ngibingelela ngithe, sanibonani, nathula ngoba beningazi ukuthi ithini le ntombi yakwaMazibuko. [That is why I said hello in isiZulu, while you kept quiet because you did not understand what Ms Mazibuko was saying.]
I'd like to thank you, hon members, for this debate. It must not end here.
Ngiyabonga kakhulu bab'uMsimang yingakho ngithe [Thank you very much, hon Msimang, that is why I said] I must raise this issue because it's a serious problem.
Ngombana abantu bekhethu abasakwazi ukukhuluma isikhabo kwamambala. Ukhe wabona? [It is because our people are no longer able to speak their languages properly. Have you noticed?]
The reason we are speaking about this is that there are not only the 11 languages that are recognised in the Constitution, but more beyond that.
I agree with you, Mr Ntshiqela, that 90% of what the SABC broadcasts is not even South African English but foreign content. Language also brings morality into society - morality starts with the language. I challenge the SABC to change the content. All languages should be represented. In most cases, the dominating languages are isiXhosa, isiZulu, Setswana and Sesotho. Meanwhile other languages are suppressed, even though they form part of the 11 official languages. You must clap hands now, hon members. [Interjections.] [Laughter.] [Applause.]
I agree with Mr Ntshiqela that enyanisweni uPanSALB usarhuqa nzima, ngokuba baseneengxaki mna nawe esivumelana nazo [in honest truth, PanSALB is still struggling because they still have challenges that you and I agree with.]
I think that we, as the committee as well, will just have to push PanSALB on the issue of recognising all languages.
I'd also like to encourage those of us in this House to speak in our own languages more often - and I include myself, the one who started this debate. Most of us, when we respond, do so in English.
Thank you, hon Mulder; for the first time I agree with you - even if there is 2% where you disagree with me. I want to say that many of the complaints that we receive are from Afrikaners. It is not only Africans but also people who speak Afrikaans who want to express themselves in Afrikaans, in interviews, for instance. As I said in my opening statement, Afrikaans is also one of the indigenous languages because of its historical context - I will not go there. It's not me saying this; it's history.
Dis geskiedenis. Dis nie ek wat so s nie - ek het nie die boeke geskryf nie. [Gelag.] [It's history. It's not me saying this - I did not write the books. [Laughter.]] Furthermore, African writers face a serious challenge. Most of them do not get publishers because publishers want books written in English. I think it's a challenge.
Yilapho ke lungaqhubeki ulimi lwethu. [That is why our languages do not develop.]
You will find that our own African writers are writing in English because the publishers are the challenge. This means that publishers must also start to transform their sector.
As I said, a language is a tool that we use as a vehicle for human rights and minority community development in the country. As long as we don't recognise our indigenous languages, our economy will not improve because a person who comes from the most rural or nodal areas to an urban area cannot speak English. This is because history deprived them of the opportunity to gain a high level of education. If they cannot speak that language, they won't achieve anything economically. They might be skilled but as long as language remains a barrier there will a serious problem.
Indigenous languages are under siege as we speak, not only in South Africa but internationally as well. So, it is for us here to revive those languages, especially African parents. I've heard many people, even members of this House, speak to their kids in English. The children don't even know what "papa" - that is porridge - is. They say, "Mummy, give me that white stuff." It is a challenge to all African parents to speak these languages at home. We even pray in English in our own, African, homes.
Akusathandazwa ngamaXhosa, kwaye asisamazi uyanga iNkosi ingeva umthandazo wabantwana abancinci; ngenxa kaYesu Kristu iNkosi yethu, Amen. [The amaXhosa people do not pray anymore and they do not know the prayer: May God hear the prayer of the small children; in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.]
We don't even say that anymore. I'm also challenging churches and the religious community. They preach in English because of the diversity in South Africa, but then people don't follow what is being said and don't go to church anymore. Church is one of the sectors that bring moral regeneration to society. When there is a language shift, the culture diminishes altogether.
Ngiyacela ukuthi sonke sivumelane. [I would like all of us to agree.]
I also challenge the private sector. It is not only the public sector that must take up this challenge. They must allow their documents, advertisements and everything to be written in indigenous languages. I have seen people trying to write isiXhosa - they mix English and isiXhosa, then they say they are writing the language. I think it's a serious crisis. Thank you, hon members, for supporting this beautiful hon member in this debate. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.