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Azra Jabbar
Anudi Karunaratne
Jonathan Cruse
Muminah Hakeem
Senadie De Alwis

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Language Policy and Education in Multilingual South Africa by Rachel Hazeltine

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Language Policy and Education in Multilingual South Africa

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Language Policy and Education in Multilingual South Africa

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Following the apartheid South Africa was keen to adopt a multilingual policy (even in education).

The apartheid Bantu Education Act (1953), set in motion a culture of discrimination. Indigenous languages were used as a means of discrimination. The blacks were forced to learn the native languages in addition to Afrikaans & English, and were not afforded language choice.

Changes to education Post apartheid:

Choice is offered in language and education

For example:  indigenous languages were promoted at primary level and later on students can chose between English or Afrikaans, as the language of instruction.

In the case of both English language schools and Afrikaans language schools, English was given prominence as a first choice, over the indigenous languages of South Africa.

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Language Policy and Educationin Multilingual South Africa Rachel Hazeltine

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Language is the main instrument of communication at the disposal of human beings and given the colonial history of South Africa, English is considered to be the language of power in the post-apartheid setting.

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11 languages were made official languages of South Africa through the 1996 Constitution of South Africa. Surprisingly, English is placed low on this list of official languages, even though it is a dominant language of the country, along with Afrikaans.

"One thing that makes South Africa’s situation interesting is Afrikaans. Having nearly equal status with English, Afrikaans has the dubious honor of being a second white oppressor language. However, being ‘nearly’ equal is a point of contention for the Afrikaner people and Afrikaans speakers. Afrikaans is not really an African language, despite its name, and being a mixture of Dutch and Zulu born from white Dutch settlers, it seems like it should be rightfully classed as a creole." (Hazeltine, 2013)

The majority language of South Africa is not English, but it is spoken by many as a second language, so there is a high level of bilingual and multilingual people.

"This mix of languages presents a problem when it comes to education policy in the country, as it is not feasible to simply create fair distribution of schools for all 9 languages, and especially not one unbiased towards the dominant English language. The literacy rate in South Africa is relatively high, but currently all this means is that there are higher levels of English use." (Hazeltine, 2013)

Source

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In the early 1900's, white Afrikaners were in power and feared to lose their social and political position in society and that led to Afrikaans becoming its own language rather than a dialect of Dutch or creole.

Officialization of the language was important for the reason that the presence of the British in the country caused Afrikaans to be regarded as 'low' Dutch of an inferior language.

"It seems somewhat ironic that Afrikaans would have to suppress every other language in the country in order to keep itself alive, but it is not entirely safe yet. With the arrival of nine new official languages, Afrikaans may be threatened enough to lose its balance in the linguistic power situation of South Africa, falling below English in prestige, as already schools turn to English over Afrikaans for a language of better opportunity" (Kamwangamalu, 2001).

"This situation is interesting for several linguistic and political reasons.

1. Afrikaans’ status as both a weakened language in its creole identity and a strong language as one of the language of power makes it difficult to find an easy answer to this dilemma.

2.  As Afrikaans is a language of power, but not the only language, it seems more likely to have the Afrikaners’ claims dismissed as either simply trying to regain some of their former exclusive power or as something that is not a real or immediate threat due to its prominence."(Hazeltine, 2013)

Unlike most other native languages in South Africa, it is very likely that Afrikaans will survive a possible gain to power of English, in terms of numbers and in South African politics. It is capable of thriving outside of official English settings.

"In conclusion, South Africa has done much to overcome its history of apartheid and linguistic oppression. However, despite good intentions and pretty constitutional statements, English and Afrikaans continue to dominate schools and society in the country due to their higher prestige and global potential, even though most South Africans are not native English speakers."  (Hazeltine, 2013)

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"In 1955, a policy of teaching in both English and Afrikaans on a 50-50 basis in the secondary schools was adopted. However, the shortage of black teachers proficient in Afrikaans (all teacher training schools for blacks are in English) allowed this policy to be carried out in only 26% of the schools. In 1976 the black Africans' hatred of apartheid, and of Afrikaans as the "language of the oppressor," came to a head in Soweto, a black "township" outside of Johannesburg." (Marjorie, 1982)

"On 16 June, 15,000 students marched in the streets carrying banners with such slogans as "Blacks are not dustbins - Afrikaans stinks." At one point police opened fire on a group of these students starting a chain of violence in Soweto that lasted some months and left 172 blacks, many of them in their teens, killed by police bullets... Since that time, the government has allowed individual school boards to choose the medium of instruction. Ninety-nine percent have chosen English." (Marjorie, 1982)

"However, there are apartheid-imposed obstacles to learning English. Even in the urban areas, Africans' schools, residences, and workplaces are often separated from those of other races by law, and consequently they do not have the chance to interact freely with native English-speakers."(Marjorie, 1982)

"Although there is a strong motivation for blacks to learn English, this is a matter of practicality rather than loyalty. There is no danger of black languages being lost." (Marjorie, 1982)

"Language and politics are very much intertwined in South Africa, as they are everywhere. The government's divide-and-conquer approach to black language policy is allied to the whole degrading system of laws that keep blacks in permanent poverty. Enlightened policy is needed in the area of language as well as in all other aspects of political life."(Marjorie, 1982)

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South Africa is a multi-lingual society that has some unique linguistic problems because of its policy of apartheid. On one level, there are tensions between its two official language groups, Afrikaans and English. On another level, there are linguistic tensions between the ethnic Europeans and the black majority, mostly in regard to language instruction in schools. This issue was the spark that ignited the tragic Soweto riots in 1976. To understand this event and the language issue as it stands today, some background of the English vs. Afrikaans conflict is necessary.

Afrikaans and English

The conflict and rivalry between English - and Afrikaans-speakers goes to the heart of the history of white South Africa. The original European settlers in 1652 spoke Dutch, which eventually evolved into Afrikaans, but in 1822 the British gained control and proclaimed English as the language of the schools, churches and government. This, along with the freeing of slaves and the British efforts to establish racial equity in the courts, led to the Boers' treks northward starting in 1836, and as British imperialism grew, to the Boer War at the turn of the century. These events are engraved on the Afrikaner character and ideology.

When not taught in English, Afrikaners were schooled in Dutch, a language equally foreign to them by the early 19th century. They did not win the right to be taught in Afrikaans until 1925, since which time English and Afrikaans have been officially on equal footing. The Afrikaners' language is the primary symbol of their sense of cultural distinctness. There is even an abstract monument to Afrikaans in Paarl - perhaps the only monument to a language anywhere in the world.

Afrikaners, who today constitute roughly 60% of the white population, have since 1948 almost completely dominated politics. Today 19 of the 20 Cabinet members are native Afrikaans speakers. English, however, still holds greater prestige in finance and education. English is an urban, international language and Afrikaans mainly a rural, national one. English is the language of the more liberal newspapers as well as most black newspapers. Afrikaans is the language of the labor bureaus, the police, and the prisons, which explains black Africans' antipathy toward it. Coloreds, a mixed-race group, have traditionally been Dutch/Afrikaans speakers and helped shape the language, but many are now switching to English in sympathy with blacks.

Blacks and Whites

About 70% of South Africans speak one of the Bantu languages. There is an almost perfect correlation between race and language: those who speak a Bantu language as a mother tongue are black African, and there are few blacks who do not speak a Bantu language. No black elite class speaks only a Western language, as in many post-colonial African countries.

Within the past 33 years the South African government has forcibly relocated 2 to 3 million blacks in "tribal homelands," scattered like tiny islands within the national borders. Theoretically each tribe has its own separate homeland, all at various stages of "independence." These are attempts by the South African government to absolve themselves of responsibility for blacks while still benefiting from black migratory labor. These reserves are, for the most part, in remote and barren areas where poverty, malnutrition, and mortality are worse than in the cities. In addition, as tribal groups have traditionally been defined by language, the homelands separate blacks linguistically, thus limiting their contact with people from other groups.

The architects of the apartheid plan envisioned a separate system of education for blacks (even in the urban areas) where the vernaculars would be included gradually in university instruction. Blacks objected to this policy from the start. First, they saw the "divide-and-conquer" motive behind this plan. Second, they wanted to learn English as a language of wider communication. Education solely in the vernaculars has never reached beyond the sixth year of school.

In 1955, a policy of teaching in both English and Afrikaans on a 50-50 basis in the secondary schools was adopted. However, the shortage of black teachers proficient in Afrikaans (all teacher training schools for blacks are in English) allowed this policy to be carried out in only 26% of the schools. In 1976 the black Africans' hatred of apartheid, and of Afrikaans as the "language of the oppressor," came to a head in Soweto, a black "township" outside of Johannesburg. A school board there was dismissed in early February for resisting the imposition of Afrikaans. Protest began at that school and swelled over a period of months to the other schools, with the support of teachers, parents, and students.

On 16 June, 15,000 students marched in the streets carrying banners with such slogans as "Blacks are not dustbins - Afrikaans stinks." At one point police opened fire on a group of these students starting a chain of violence in Soweto that lasted some months and left 172 blacks, many of them in their teens, killed by police bullets. The revolt touched almost every city and village in South Africa that year, reaching far beyond the language issue. Strikes closed businesses and industry, and in Soweto, the government-instituted Bantu Council was forced to resign.

Since that time, the government has allowed individual school boards to choose the medium of instruction. Ninety-nine percent have chosen English. The vernacular is required as medium of instruction for only four years rather than six.

However, there are apartheid-imposed obstacles to learning English. Even in the urban areas, Africans' schools, residences, and workplaces are often separated from those of other races by law, and consequently they do not have the chance to interact freely with native English-speakers. Furthermore, the schoolteachers speak a distinctly African kind of English that can at times be almost unintelligible to native English-speakers. Finally, due to lack of funds (the government currently spends $1075 a year on each white student and $114 on each black child, the average student:teacher ratio is 60:1, forcing teachers to resort to teaching methods that allow for little individual attention. There are no textbooks, chairs, or electricity in many cases. This state of affairs affects blacks' whole education, of course, not just the teaching of English.

Some recent actions by the government might be hopeful signs. The acute need for skilled labor has led the government to upgrade black education. New classrooms are being built, teachers in black schools are now being required to have a high school degree, and pay scales are being adjusted to a parity level. Black education can be compulsory through the 10th year if a school so desires. But, as an indication of the deep distrust blacks hold against whatever the government does, only 13 out of 173 schools in Soweto have implemented this rule. They fear the government may use it to prevent students from staging strikes that have become a useful political tool. More importantly, they see these recent moves as being only adaptations within a structure that is fundamentally unjust, where blacks do not have even the right to vote.

A television service for blacks was begun on January 1; it has been broadcast in 5 of the vernacular languages. English is not being allowed, and Afrikaans is apparently not politically feasible. The Afrikaners' response to the blacks' rejection of their language has been ambivalent. Some older Afrikaners dismiss it all, saying, "Why do we want the Kaffirs to speak our language anyway?" But the more sophisticated realize they are losing a chance to influence blacks through Afrikaner media.

Although there is a strong motivation for blacks to learn English, this is a matter of practicality rather than loyalty. There is no danger of black languages being lost. There are newspapers and a literature in many Bantu languages. Some think that if blacks come to power in South Africa, Nguni and Sotho are likely to become official languages along with English.

The situation in South Africa gives a twist of irony to the problem of education in the vernaculars. Because the vernaculars there have been imposed in order to distance blacks from the well-established white power structure, their use has been resisted; in other African countries blacks are looking for ways to promote literacy in the vernaculars as a means of erasing the colonial legacy.

Language and politics are very much intertwined in South Africa, as they are everywhere. The government's divide-and-conquer approach to black language policy is allied to the whole degrading system of laws that keep blacks in permanent poverty. Enlightened policy is needed in the area of language as well as in all other aspects of political life.

Article copyright Cultural Survival, Inc.

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Language Policy and Oppression in South Africa

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South Africa is a multi-lingual society that has some unique linguistic problems because of its policy of apartheid. On one level, there are tensions between its two official language groups, Afrikaans and English. On another level, there are linguistic tensions between the ethnic Europeans and the black majority, mostly in regard to language instruction in schools.

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Language The Gatekeeper of Humanity: Implications of South Africa's Language in Education Policies 

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Problems faced in the practical implementation of  English Language Education in South Africa 

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Problems faced in the practical implementation of  English Language Education in South Africa 

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In South Africa language, education and social mobility are  seen as inextricably linked.

The perception remains that English qualifies as the "language of learning" in South Africa (Kamwangamalu, 2003) and enable greater prospects of social mobility.

However, English language education is not wholly inclusive and therefore serves to cause divisions and exclusions:

Main issue: the system is biased, favouring some and excluding others. The "Language of power is the language of instruction and the policy on paper is not the working in schools."

Not everyone has access to quality education in English

For example: teachers complain that  Language in Education policies reinforce discriminatory barriers in Black schools, as such schools often lack necessary funding and implementation.

There is a lack of English proficiency among teachers and students.

For example: despite the apartheid drawing to an end, as of the year 2000, over 70% of native Africans could not comprehend English.

Theoretically English was seen as a means of liberation and freedom (in the context of the apartheid struggle)

But, on a practical level many who have been excluded from the system are not able to reap the benefits (intended by the South Africa's latest Language in Education Policy)

*For some practical solutions on greater language inclusivity within the class room visit: Learning in South Africa's Multilingual Classrooms *

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Nowadays one can recognise at least four main varieties of English in South Africa: Afrikaner English (the English of those South Africans whose mother language is Afrikaans), Coloured English (the kind of English used by the coloured (racially mixed, or Asiatic) portion of the population, the English of the black section of the population and of course the language of those native speakers of English. In addition there are about 1 million speakers of South African Indian English which derives from the speech of those Indian immigrants who came to Kwazulu-Natal in the late 19th century.

English had been the official language of South Africa along with Afrikaans for centuries until the interim constitution of 1993 and new constitution of 1996 declared 11 languages official along with Afrikaans and English.

Especially amongst the educated, English functions as a lingua franca, and is a primary language of government, business, and commerce. It is a compulsory subject in all schools, and is the preferred medium of instruction in most schools and tertiary institutions

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Historical and political events shaped how English spread to SouthAfrica and was received by the people:

English has evoked differing reactions in the different South African language communities.

From the beginning, English was imposed at the Cape upon an unwilling Dutch (later Afrikaans)

community. There was an attempt to make English the sole language of the law and of education, even in the overwhelmingly Dutch/Afrikaans-speaking rural areas, causing a deep resentment which is still noticeable in some Afrikaner groups today. Afrikaner hostility towards English was of course considerably hardened by the South African (or ‘Boer’) War of 1899–1902, and English became die vyand se taal, ‘the language of the enemy’.

English as the lingua-franca vs English as the language of the Other

As in most countries where it serves as lingua franca, English came to be perceived as the

language of the social elite. But while it was seen as the language of aspiration and

empowerment for black South Africans and for many Afrikaners, among a significant section of

the Afrikaans population it was consistently received with hostility as an oppressor, and, from the time the National Party came to power in 1948, Afrikaans became the openly-favored language.

The nature of South African English (SAE): what distinguishes it from other

varieties?

It was born in a multicultural context

Apartheid, Afrikaans, and English

Afrikaans was seen as the language of the oppressor during the Apartheid regime

Afrikaans was intimately linked with power and oppression

What did this do to the status of English?

“ In contrast, English was chosen as the language of communication by the ANC and the other

liberation organizations during the ‘freedom struggle’, and “has typically been seen as the

language of liberation and black unity” (Gough 1996:xviii). English was chosen as the language

of instruction by the black governments of ‘independent homelands’ such as the Transkei, and

English-language newspapers enjoyed a wide readership in the townships.”

Current status of English

English remains the politically ‘neutral’ language for public use: President Mandela’s speeches are almost invariably in English; national conferences are held largely in English; in Parliament, although all official languages may be used, English is predominant; tertiary education is in English, with the exception of some of the Afrikaans-language campuses.

The status of English as an international language, and as one which is politically more neutral than any other South African language

Issue of standards:

English in South Africa has long since passed out of the hands of mother-tongue speakers. With

its increased public use by the new black elite, and in the electronic media, it seems likely that

standard SAE is entering a period of accelerated change. This has already led to an intolerant

reaction from some conservative English-speakers, and ‘standard’ is likely to become an

increasingly difficult issue.

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Curious to find out more about SouthAfrican English (SAE)?
Tune into a stimulating conversation with Tapiwa Venge and Azra Jabbar to find out more about the roots of SouthAfrican English, its history, spread and multicultural inheritance

(Tapiwa is an electrical Engineer and graduate from the University of Witwatersrand Johannesburg, South Africa.
He is fluent in 7 languages including: Shona , Ndebele, Zulu, Xhosa , Sotho, Tswana and English)

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Enjoyed engaging with our resources on South African English? Take the quiz to find out how much you know!
Quiz 1
Quiz 2

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Born in a multicultural and multilingual context, South African English(SAE) is an interesting variety of English to explore. Composed of several sub-varieties it functions as a rich source for linguistic study. On the stage of World Englishes, SAE stands prominent and is easily recognizable by its unique accent.

This resource collection is designed to explore SAE in all its diversity, and how it functions on a national level.  Look forward to a general overview of SAE and its history, the power issues related to language and education as well as the diversity of linguistic features present in SAE, followed by engaging conversations and quizzes!!!

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The online dictionary of SouthAfrican English

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The online dictionary of SouthAfrican English

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This website contains an extensive collection of SAE vocabulary and their meanings.

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Mixed with over a dozen African languages for over two centuries, spiced by imports from British, Dutch and Portuguese colonies, South African English has its own rich, varied and sometimes weird flavour.

Jump to:

English has been spoken in South Africa for over 200 years, at least since the British military seized the Cape of Good Hope settlement from the Dutch in 1795 to keep the Cape out of the hands of revolutionary France, then a Dutch ally.

Since then South Africa's everyday English has gradually absorbed many words from African languages.

These influences include Afrikaans, a South African language that grew out of a variety of Dutch spoken in the 1500s. South African English also borrows from African languages such as isiZulu, isiXhosa, Sesotho and Setswana, and the indigenous languages of the Khoesan and Nama people.

Here and there are words imported from British, Portuguese and Dutch colonies, such as India, Mozambique, Malaysia and Indonesia. Later immigrants - Greeks, Lebanese, Eastern European Jews and others - added new words to local English.

According to the 2011 census, English is the home language of 9.6% of South Africans - a third of them not white.

English is the language of public life: government, business and the media. It's estimated that half of South Africa's people have a speaking knowledge of the language.

This glossary explains some of the words often used when English is spoken in South Africa.

A: aardvark to aweh

abba (verb) - Carry a child secured to one's back with a blanket. From the Khoisan.

accrual (noun) - South African legal principle whereby a person going through a divorce may, if the value of their property has increased less than that of their spouse, claim at half of the difference in the accumulated value of their joint property.

Afrikaans (noun) - South African language, developed out of the Dutch spoken in the country since the first Dutch East India Company settlement in the Cape, established in 1652. Afrikaans was considered a dialect of Dutch - known as "Cape Dutch" - until recognised as a language in the late 19th century. From the Dutch for "African".

Afrikaner (noun) Indigenous South African Bos indicus breed of long-horned beef cattle.

ag (exclamation) - Expression of frustration, outrage, impatience or resignation: "Ag no! I spilled coffee on my keyboard again!"

amasi (noun) - Thick curdled milk, also known as maas; similar to yoghurt. A traditional drink, amasi is now produced commercially. From the isiXhosa and isiZulu.

Anglo-Boer War (noun) - War between the British and the Boers, the forebears of today's Afrikaners, from 1899 to 1902. While strictly the Second Boer War - the first being fought from 1880 to 1881 - it was by far the more significant conflict. Today the Anglo-Boer War is better known as the South African War. This recognises that while the declared war was ostensibly between the British and Boers, other people - Africans and Indians - also took part, and were victims of the conflict.

Anglo-Zulu War (noun) - War between the British and the Zulus, fought in 1879. Most famous for the battle of Isandlwana, in which the British colonial army suffered their greatest single military defeat ever.

apartheid (noun) - Literally "apartness" in Afrikaans, apartheid was the policy of racial segregation implemented by the National Party from 1948 to 1994, resulting in the oppression and labour exploitation of South Africa's black majority, and their systematic exclusion from the country's mainstream economic, educational and social life.

aweh (exclamation) - Enthusiastic yes, absolutely.

B: babbelas to bushveld

babbelas (noun) - Hangover. From the isiZulu ibhabhalazi (hangover).

bagel (noun) - Overly groomed materialistic young man, and the male version of a kugel. From the Yiddish word for the pastry.

bakkie (noun) - Utility truck, pick-up truck. Diminutive of the Afrikaans bak (container).

Basotho (noun, plural) - The South Sotho people, principally those living in Lesotho. The singular is Mosotho.

big five, the (noun) - Africa's famous five wildlife species: lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard and rhino.

bioscope (noun, dated) - Cinema or movie theatre, originally a word widespread in Commonwealth countries such as South Africa and Australia that, although generally out of use, has survived longer in South Africa because of the influence of the Afrikaans bioskoop.

biscuit (noun) - Both a cookie and a term of affection for a person.

bittereinder (noun) - Bitter-ender or diehard; Boer who refused to surrender and continued to resist after defeat at the end of the Anglo-Boer War.

bliksem (verb and noun) - To beat up, hit or punch - or a mischievous person. From the Afrikaans for "lightning". See donder.

blooming (adjective and adverb) - Very, extremely, used with irritation: "My laptop's a blooming mess after I spilled coffee on the keyboard."

boer (noun) - Farmer. From the Afrikaans and Dutch.

Boer (noun) - Member of a nation descended from the Dutch settlers who arrived in South Africa in 1652, with some intermingling with French Huguenots, German immigrants, indigenous people and others. The Boers trekked by oxwagon from the Cape into the South African hinterland, formed short-lived republics, and went on to fight a major war with the British empire, the Anglo-Boer War. Today's white Afrikaners are the descendants of the Boers. From the Afrikaans and Dutch for "farmer".

boet (noun) - Term of affection, from the Afrikaans for "brother".

bok (noun) - Buck. From the Afrikaans.

boma (noun) - In South Africa, an open thatched structure used for dinners, entertainment and parties. Originally a form of log fortification used to keep livestock in or enemies out. The word is used across Africa and is of uncertain origin.

Bonsmara (noun) - South African breed of beef cattle, cross-bred for both hardiness in local conditions and high production from Shorthorn, Hereford and indigenous Afrikaner cattle. The name comes from Professor Jan Bonsma, who developed the breed, and the Mara research station where it was first produced.

brah (noun) - Brother, friend, mate. Shortening of "brother".

Buccaneers (noun) - Affectionate term for the Orlando Pirates football team. From the historical word for "pirate".

bunny chow (noun) - Curry served in a hollowed-out half-loaf of bread, with the hollowed-out piece of bread placed on top. The dish originated in Durban's immigrant Indian community, who arrived in what was then the colony of Natal from 1860 onwards.
It is believed that bunny chow was a convenient food on the go for Indian labourers working especially in the colony's sugarcane plantations. Today it is available across South Africa, in both cheap cafes and exclusive Indian restaurants.
"Chow" is South African informal for food, perhaps from "chow-chow", a relish that gets its name from the French chou (cabbage). The origin of "bunny" in bunny chow is, according to one theory, that the meal was first sold at a Durban restaurant run by Banias, an Indian caste. Also see " kota ".

Bushman (noun) - Member of a population group indigenous to southern Africa, with a far deeper history than any other settlers in the region. Bushmen are also known as San. There is some debate on the political correctness of the use of "San" versus "Bushman".

C: café to cousin

café, caffee (noun) - A small local neighbourhood store stocking basic groceries.

Casspir (noun) - South African armoured vehicle, infamously deployed in townships during the anti-apartheid uprisings of the 1980s. Originally designed as a landmine-proof vehicle for use in South Africa's border war with Angola, in the same era. Casspir is an anagram of SAP and CSIR: the customer was the South African Police (SAP), and the developer the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

chakalaka ( noun) - a spicy vegetable dish traditionally served as a sauce or relish with bread, pap, samp, stews or curries

check you (exclamation) - Goodbye, see you later.

china (noun) - Friend, mate. From the Cockney rhyming slang "china plate" = "mate".

chommie (noun) - Friend, mate. From the UK English chum, with the Afrikaans diminutive "ie".

chop (noun) - Fool, idiot; often used affectionately.

Clever Boys, the (noun) - Affectionate term for the University of the Witwatersrand football club, Wits FC.

cooldrink, colddrink (noun) - Sweet fizzy drink such as Coca-Cola.

cousin, cuzzy (noun) - Friend, mate.

D: dagga to dwaal

deurmekaar (adjective) - Confused, disorganised or stupid, from the Afrikaans word of the same meaning.

doek (noun) - Woman's head scarf. From the Afrikaans.

dolos (noun) - Blocks of concrete in an H-shape, with one arm rotated through 90º. The dolos is a South African invention, with the interlocking blocks piled together to protect harbour seawalls and preserve beaches from erosion. The word comes from the Afrikaans for the knuckle bones in a sheep's leg. The plural is dolosse.

dop (noun and verb) - Small tot of alcoholic drink. Also failure: "I dopped the test." From the Afrikaans.

Durbs (noun) - The city of Durban.

dwaal (noun and verb) - Lack of concentration or focus: "Sorry, I was in a bit of a dwaal. Could you repeat that?" Or, as a verb: "I was dwaaling down the street, going nowhere." From the Afrikaans for err, wander or roam.

E: Egoli to ekasi

Egoli (noun) - Johannesburg, and the title of a local soap opera set in the city. From the isiXhosa and isiZulu for "place of gold"; Johannesburg is historically South Africa's primary gold-producing area, and the country's richest city.

eish (exclamation) - Expression of surprise, wonder, frustration or outrage. Example: "Eish! That cut was eina!" From the isiXhosa and isiZulu.

ekasi See kasie

F: Fanagolo to fynbos

Fanagolo, Fanakolo (noun) - Pidgin language that grew up mainly on South Africa's gold mines to allow communication between white supervisors and African labourers during the colonial and apartheid era. It combines elements of the Nguni languages, English, and Afrikaans. From the Nguni fana ka lo , from fana (be like) and the possessive suffix -ka + lo (this).

fixed up (exclamation) - That's good, yes, sorted. Example: "Let's meet at the restaurant." The reply: "Fixed up."

flog (verb) - Sell. "I've had enough of this laptop. I think it's time I flogged it."

for sure, sure, sure-sure (exclamation) - Yes; general affirmative.

fynbos (noun) - "Fine bush" in Afrikaans, fynbos is a vegetation type unique to the Cape Floral Region - a Unesco World Heritage Site - made up of some 6 000 plant species, including many types of protea.

G: gatvol to Griqualand

gatvol (adjective) - Fed up. From the Afrikaans.

grand apartheid (noun) - The most systematic and rigid implementation of apartheid, such as the creation of the "homelands" under the policy of "separate development", during the 1960s and 1970s.

graze (verb) - Eat.

Griqua (noun, plural and singular) - South African population group, or a member of that group, descended from a mix of early (from 1652) European blood with that of the indigenous Khokhoi, San and Tswana. They generally speak Afrikaans, and have their own church, the Protestant Griqua Church. "Griqua" is a Nama word.

Griqualand (noun) - Two South African regions historically occupied by the Griqua. Griqualand East, on the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal frontier, was settled by Adam Kok III and over 2 000 Griquas after a trek across the Drakensberg mountains in 1861. Today the region is centred around the town of Kokstad (Kok's city). Griqualand West is the area around Kimberley, the capital of the Northern Cape. "Griqua" is a Nama word.

H: hamerkop to howzit

Hanepoot (noun) - Sweet wine made from the muscat blanc d'Alexandrie grape cultivar, and an alternate name for this cultivar.

hang of a (adjective) - Very or big, as in: "It's hang of a difficult" or "I had a hang of a problem".

hey (exclamation) - Expression that can be used as a standalone question meaning "pardon?" or "what?" - "Hey? What did you say?" Or it can be used to prompt affirmation or agreement, as in "It was a great film, hey?"

homelands (noun) - The spurious "independent" states in which black South Africans were forced to take citizenship under the policy of apartheid. Also known as bantustans.

howzit (exclamation) - Common South African greeting that translates roughly as "How are you?", "How are things?" or just "Hello". From "How is it?"

I: imbizo to isiZulu

imbongi (noun) - Traditional praise singer. From the isiXhosa and isiZulu.

indaba (noun) - Conference or expo. From the isiZulu and isiXhosa for "matter" or "discussion".

inyanga (noun) - Traditional herbalist and healer. From the Nguni.

is it (exclamation) - Is that so?

isiNdebele (noun) - Nguni language of the Ndebele people.

isiXhosa (noun) - Nguni language of the Xhosa people.

isiZulu (noun) - Nguni language of the Zulu people.

J: ja to just now

ja (exclamation) - Yes. From the Afrikaans.

jawelnofine (exclamation) - Literally, "yes (ja in Afrikaans), well, no, fine", all in a single word. An expression of resignation or puzzlement similar to "How about that?"

jislaaik (exclamation) - Expression of outrage, surprise or consternation: "Jislaaik, I spilled coffee on my laptop!" From the Afrikaans.

Joburg (noun) - Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city. Once informal, it is now used on the City of Johannesburg logo.

Joeys (noun) - Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city

jol (noun, verb and adjective) - Celebration, fun, party (noun); celebrate, have fun, party, dance and drink (verb). A person who does these things is a joller. From the Afrikaans for "dance" or "party"; perhaps related to "jolly". Occasionally spelled "jawl" or "jorl".

Jozi (noun) - Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city

just now (adverb) - Soonish, not immediately.

K: kaaskop to kwela-kwela

kaaskop, chiskop, chizkop, cheesekop (noun) - Bald person, or person with a shaved head. "Kop" is Afrikaans for head. "Kaas" is the Afrikaans for cheese. Why "cheese head" means bald person is not clear.

khaya (noun) - Home. From the Nguni group of languages.

Khoekhoe (noun) - Standardised spelling of "Khoikhoi" in the Khoekhoe Nama languages.

Khoikhoi [also Quena] (noun) - Indigenous Khoisan people living in southwestern South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, including the Nama, and their languages. From the Nama for "people people" or "real people".

Khoisan (noun) - Collective term for the Khoi and San people of South Africa.

kikoi (noun) - Attractively patterned cotton cloth with fringed ends used as an informal wraparound skirt, or towel, or picnic blanket. From the Kiswahili.

Kiswahili (noun) - Swahili, the language.

koki (noun) - Coloured marker or felt-tip pen. From a local brand name.

kombi (noun) - Minibus taxi. From the Volkswagen proprietary name Kombi, from the German Kombiwagen. Volkswagen minibuses were the first used in the initial stages of South Africa's minibus taxi transport revolution of the early 1980s, although today other vehicle makes are used.

koppie (noun) - Small hill. From the Afrikaans.

korhaan (noun) - Group of species of long-legged African bird (genus Eupodotis) found in open country. From the Dutch korhaan (black male grouse), from korren (too coo) and haan (cock).

kota (noun) - A quarter loaf of bread hollowed out and filled with combinations of atchar, polony (Bologna), Russian sausages, slap chips, cheese, eggs, chilli sauce and more. A street food variant of the more suburban bunny chow. From the English "quarter".

krans (noun) - Cliff; overhanging wall of rock. From the Afrikaans.

kudu (noun) - Large African antelope ( Tragelaphus strepsiceros and Tragelaphus imberbis). From the Afrikaans koedoe , originally from the isiXhosa i-qudu .

kugel (noun) - Overly groomed materialistic young woman, from the Yiddish word for a plain pudding garnished as a delicacy. A bagel is the male variety.

kwela-kwela (noun) - Police van, or minibus taxi. From the isiXhosa and isiZulu for "climb on".

L: laatlammetjie to loerie

laatlammetjie (noun) - Youngest child of a family, born to older parents and much younger than their siblings. The word means "late lamb" in Afrikaans.

lapa (noun) - Open-sided enclosure, usually roofed with thatch, used as an outdoor entertainment area. From the Sesotho for "homestead" or "courtyard".

lappie (noun) - Cleaning cloth. From the Afrikaans, originally from the Dutch for "rag" or "cloth".

lekgotla (noun) - Planning or strategy session. From the Setswana for "meeting" or "meeting place".

load-shedding (noun) - Planned electricity blackout in a specific area, to relieve pressure on South Africa's national power grid.

location (noun) - South African township; lokasie or kasie in Afrikaans.

M: maas to Mzansi

maas, amasi (noun) - Thick curdled milk, similar to yoghurt. Maas is both made at home and can be bought ready-made. From the isiXhosa and isiZulu.

Madiba (noun) - Affectionate name for Nelson Mandela, and the name of his clan.

makarapa ( noun) - A plastic miner's helmet cut, moulded and painted to make headgear worn by fans at football matches. From isiXhosa.

mal (adjective) - Mad. from the Afrikaans.

mama (noun) - An affectionate or polite name for older women.

Matabele (noun) - Nguni-language-speaking people of Zimbabwe, and the majority population group in that country.

mbube (noun) - Style of South African township music developed in the 1940s by Zulu migrants to urban areas. The first example of the style was the song Mbube by Solomon Linda and the Evening Birds. The song was copied as Wimoweh by Pete Seeger in 1952, and as The Lion Sleeps Tonight by The Tokens in 1961. It also featured in Disney's hit animated film The Lion King. Solomon Linda died in 1962 with less than R100 in his bank account. His family couldn't afford a headstone for his grave. The song is said to have generated some US$15-million in royalties. Linda's descendants were only compensated for seven decades of copyright infringement in 2007, for an undisclosed amount. "Mbube" is isiZulu for "lion".

moer (verb) - Hit, punch, beat up. From the Afrikaans "murder".

mokoro (noun) - Dugout canoe used in Botswana.

Mosotho (noun) - A South Sotho person. The plural is Basotho.

mozzie (noun) - mosquito.

Mzansi (noun) - South Africa. From the isiXhosa for "south".

N: naartjie to now-now

Nama, Namaqua, Namaqualander (noun) - Khoikhoi people of South Africa's Northern Cape province and southwest Namibia, one of those people, and the language they speak. From the Nama word for themselves.

Namaqualand (noun) - Arid region of South Africa's Northern Cape province and southwestern Namibia, inhabited largely by the Nama people and known for its annual explosion of desert flowers.

Namaqualand daisy (noun) - South African daisy Dimorphotheca sinuate, with bright yellow, orange or white flowers, which once a year carpets the arid northwest region of Namaqualand with colour.

Ndebele (noun) - Two groups on Nguni people, one found in southwest Zimbabwe and the other in northeast South Africa, or a member of one of these groups. Their language is isiNdebele.

nê (exclamation) - "Really?", "Oh yeah?" or "Is that so?". Used sarcastically or as an invitation to agreement, similar to "yes?", as in: "This is a lekker kota, nê?" From the Afrikaans.

Nguni (noun) - Wide and diverse group of people who speak Bantu languages, or one of these languages, living mainly in southern Africa. Nguni peoples include the Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi (also known as Swati), with the corresponding languages of isiZulu, isiXhosa, isiNdebele and siSwati.

now-now (adverb) - Shortly, in a bit: "I'll be there now-now."

O: oke to oribi

ola (exclamation) - Hello, greetings, how are you.

P: pap to protea

pasop (verb) - Beware or watch out. From the Afrikaans.

perlemoen (noun) - Abalone ( Haliotis midae), a large shellfish much like a giant mussel. A delicacy, perlemoen fetch a high price internationally, putting the species under constant threat from poachers.From the Middle Dutch perlemoeder, mother of pearl: perl means pearl, moeder means mother.

phuza (noun) - Alcohol, liquor. "Phuza face" describes a person with a face puffy and bloated from drinking. From the isiXhosa and isiZulu, "drink".

potjie (noun) - Rounded and three-legged cast-iron pot, with a lid, used for cooking stew over an open fire. From the Afrikaans diminutive for "pot".

Q: quagga to quiver tree

Quena (noun) - Khoikhoi

R: rand to rooinek

rand (noun) - South Africa's currency, made up of 100 cents. The name comes from the Witwatersrand (Dutch for "white waters ridge"), the region in Gauteng province in which most of the country's gold deposits are found.

red ants (noun) - Security forces used by the Johannesburg city council to evict people from shacks, flats and other dwellings. The name comes from the red overalls they wear.

rock up (verb) - Arrive somewhere, often unannounced or uninvited. Example: "I was going to go out but then my china rocked up."

rooinek (noun) - English-speaking white South African, from the Afrikaans for "red neck". It was first coined by Afrikaners to refer to immigrants from England, whose white necks were particularly prone to sunburn. See soutpiel.

S: samoosa to Swazi

San (noun) - Southern African Bushmen, a member of that group, or their language. From the Nama sān (meaning "aboriginals", "settlers" or gatherers). There is some debate on the use of "San" versus "Bushman".

sarmie (noun) - Sandwich.

scale, scaly (verb and adjective) - To scale something means to steal it. A scaly person is not to be trusted.

separate development (noun) - Grand apartheid euphemism for segregation and the "homelands" policy. The argument was that the different races, separated in a single country, would be allowed to develop according to their own ability and culture. The reality was gross exploitation and poverty for black South Africans, and undeserved and unbalanced prosperity for the country's white people.

Sepedi (noun) - Another name for Sesotho sa Leboa, the Northern Sotho language of the Basotho people.

Sesotho (noun) - Southern Sotho language of the Basotho people.

Sesotho sa Leboa (noun) - Northern Sotho (literally "Sotho of the north") language of the Basotho people. Identified in Founding Provisions of the South African Constitution, which deals in part with language rights, as "Sepedi".

Setswana (noun) - Bantu language of the Tswana people.

shame (exclamation) - Broadly denotes sympathetic feeling or pleasure. Someone admiring a baby, kitten or puppy might say: "Ag shame!" to emphasise its cuteness. Also used to express sympathy. As writer Jacob Dlamini says: "Only in South Africa would people use the word shame when a baby is born ("Shame, what a beautiful baby!"); when that baby falls and hurts itself ("Shame, poor thing!") and when that baby dies ("Ag shame, what a shame!"). To us, shame is just one of those words that have become something of an omnibus. We use it to mean whatever we want it to mean."

sharp (exclamation) - Often doubled up for effect as "sharp-sharp!", the word is used as a greeting, a farewell, for agreement or just to express enthusiasm.

Shona (noun) - A member of a Bantu-language-speaking group of people found in northern parts of South Africa, but mostly in southern Zimbabwe, and their language.

shot (noun) - Good, yes, it's been done.

shweet (noun) - Good, yes.

siSwati (noun) - Nguni language of the Swazi people.

skinner (noun and verb) - Gossip, to gossip. A person who gossips is known as a skinnerbek (gossip mouth). From the Afrikaans.

skop, skiet en donner (noun) - Action movie. Taken from Afrikaans, it literally means "kick, shoot and beat up".

skrik (noun) - Fright: "I caught a big skrik" means "I got a big fright". From the Afrikaans.

skrik vir niks (adjective) - Scared of nothing. From the Afrikaans.

slap chips chips) (noun) - French fries, usually soft, oily and vinegar-drenched. Slap is Afrikaans for "limp".

smokes (noun) - Cigarettes.

Sotho (noun) - Member of a group of people living mainly in Lesotho, Botswana and the northern parts of South Africa, and their languages.

South African War (noun) - Modern term for the Anglo-Boer War of 1880 to 1881, to more accurately reflect that while the named combatants were the British and Boers, other communities - such as Africans and Indians - also took part.

soutpiel (noun) - English-speaking white South African, literally "salty penis" in Afrikaans. The idea is the soutpiel has one foot in South Africa, the other in England, with the penis dipped in the ocean between. See rooinek.

Soweto (noun) - South Africa's largest township, in the south of the City of Johannesburg municipality. From the abbreviation of South Western To wnships.

spookgerook (adjective) - Literally, in Afrikaans, ghost-smoked - mad, paranoid or high.

Springboks (noun) - South African national rugby team, known affectionately as the Bokke. From the springbok, South Africa's national animal.

stroppy (adjective) - Difficult, uncooperative, argumentative or stubborn. Originated in the 1950s, perhaps as a shortening of obstreperous.

struesbob (exclamation) - "As true as Bob", as true as God, the gospel truth.

sure, sure-sure, for sure (exclamation) - Yes; general affirmative.

Swallows (noun) - Moroka Swallows, a South African Premier Soccer League football team with a home base in the Soweto suburb of Moroka.

Swazi, siSwati (noun) - The Swazi people, and their language.

T: takkie to tune

takkie, tekkie (noun) - Basic running shoe or sneaker. Possibly from "tacky", meaning "cheap" or "of poor quality".

tannie (noun) - "Auntie" in Afrikaans, but used for any older woman.

taxi (noun) - Generally a minibus used to transport a large number of people, and the most-used form of transport in South Africa.

to die for (adjective) - Wonderful, beautiful, coveted: "That lipstick is to die for."

tom (noun) - Money. Uncertain origin.

toyi-toyi (noun) - A knees-up protest dance. From the isiNdebele and Shona.

trek (noun) - Long and often arduous journey. Best known from the Great Trek, the long journey by oxwagon the forebears of the Afrikaners took from the Cape Colony into the South African interior to escape British colonialism, beginning in the 1820s.

Tshivenda (noun) - Language of the Venda people.

tsotsi (noun) - Gangster, hoodlum or thug - and the title of South Africa's first Oscar-winning movie. Perhaps a corruption of "zoot suit", the type of flashy clothing worn by township thugs in the 1950s.

Tsotsitaal (noun) - Township patois, derived from 1950s gangster slang, made up of a mixture of Afrikaans and isiZulu, and largely spoken in Gauteng. From the Tostsitaal tsotsi (gangster) and Afrikaans taal (language).

Tswana (noun) - Member of a group of people mainly found in Botswana and northern South Africa, and their language.

tune, tune me, tune grief, tune me grief (verb) - Cause trouble; challenge me.

U: ubuntu to Umkhonto we Sizwe

Umkhonto (noun) - Short form of Umkhonto we Sizwe.

V: veld to vuvuzela

veld (noun) - Open grassland. From the Afrikaans, from the Dutch for "field".

Venda (noun) - South African population group largely found in Limpopo province, who speak the Tshivenda language.

verkramp (adjective) - Extremely politically conservative or reactionary. From the Afrikaans for "narrow" or "cramped".

vetkoek (noun) - Doughnut-sized bread roll made from deep-fried yeast dough, often served with savoury mince-meat. From the Afrikaans vet (fat) and koek (cake).

voema (noun) - Variant spelling of woema.

vrot (adjective) - Rotten or smelly. From the Afrikaans.

W: walkie-talkie to wors

witblitz (noun) - Potent home-made distilled alcohol, much like the American moonshine. From the Afrikaans wit (white) and blitz (lightning).

woema (noun) - Speed or power, oomph. From the Afrikaans.

woes (adjective) - Angry, irritated or aggressive. From the Afrikaans.

XYZ: Xhosa to Zulu

Xhosa (noun) - Nguni-language-speaking people of South Africa, found mainly in the Eastern Cape province.

Xitsonga (noun) - Nguni language of the Tsonga people.

yellow rice (noun) - Rice cooked with turmeric and raisins, often served with curry.

zol (noun) - Hand-rolled cigarette or marijuana joint.

Zulu (noun) - Nguni-language-speaking South African population group found mainly in KwaZulu-Natal. Their language is isiZulu.

Sources

Additional information sourced from:
Researched and written by Mary Alexander.
Updated 6 October 2019.

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South African English: a quick guide | South Africa gateway

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Jump to: English has been spoken in South Africa for over 200 years, at least since the British military seized the Cape of Good Hope settlement from the Dutch in 1795 to keep the Cape out of the hands of revolutionary France, then a Dutch ally.

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The Story of South African English: A Brief Linguistic Overview 

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The Story of South African English: A Brief Linguistic Overview 

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In this article, Bekker outlines some of the linguistic features of South African English (SAE). According to Bekker, a local standard that has become the most widely spoken sociolect of WSAE is referred to as Respectable or General SAE, and this standard is distinctively different from other varieties of English spoken around the world in terms of accent and lexicogrammar.
Here are some of the features of SAE that he cites under different linguistic categories :
Phonetics/ phonology

Unlike the other Southern Hemisphere Englishes (Australian English and New Zealand English), WSAE does not have a diphthongized FLEECE vowel  (i.e. instead of [əi] it is a monophthongal [i:]).

Broad WSAE often displays features of early Afrikaans influence e.g. obstruent (tapped) /r/ (e.g. [re:li:] for really), semi-rhoticity and epenthetic schwa (e.g. [fələm] for film). The L2 English variety spoken by Afrikaans speakers would show clear signs of L1-interference e.g. word-final devoicing ([dɒk] for dog).

The general phonological status of BSAE as including the reduction of typical English vowel contrasts (e.g. bad, bird and bed as [bed] or [be:d]), occasional consonant cluster reduction and syllable timed stress patterning, all of which are influenced by Bantu languages.

Morphology and syntax

WSAE displays a range of lexical items borrowed from other South African languages. e.g. braai [trans- barbecue] from Afrikaans, indaba [trans- Conference/ meeting] from Zulu.

WSAE uses a number of discourse markers borrowed from Afrikaans e.g. the use of the interjection ag [trans: oh!] in colloquial speech -  Ag, go away man!

Another borrowing from Afrikaans is the use of now-now in WSAE (and in other varieties of SAE too). The expression is idiosyncratic since it is used in expressions like I’ll do it now-now usually means that the act will be done at a point in time further than the time referred to. Afrikaans has a similar expression: nou-nou.

According to McCormick (2004) :

The non-standard use of auxiliaries (e.g. We did move here a week already meaning `We had moved here a week previously’)

The deletion of the adverbial suffix (e.g. We must move quick instead of we must move quickly)

Various non-standard forms of agreement or lack therefore (e.g. I’ve watched this children)

The use of loanwords from Afrikaans (e.g. I wasn’t mos so well [mos trans: indeed, of course])

The idiosyncratic meanings for certain words (e.g. the use of every time for always: What is the purpose of you doing this every time here?).

According to Mesthrie (2004) :

The regular use of y’all (< you all) for second person plural pronouns.

The mutual substitution of he and she (as a result of gender differences not being marked in Bantu languages)

High use of topicalization phenomena like left location, fronting and focus movement … (e.g. Today’s children, they are so lazy)

the treatment of non-count nouns as count nouns (e.g. We bought two furnitures)

According to Buthelezi (1995) :

BSAE is characterized by a number of loanwords from the South African Bantu languages (e.g. skorokoro meaning a jalopy [from Sotho]) as well as a number of lexico-grammatical idiosyncrasies such as the use of late as a predicate (e.g. she is late means she is dead).

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The story of South African English - A brief linguistic

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The superiority of accents: A tool for racial discrimination in South Africa?

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The superiority of accents: A tool for racial discrimination in South Africa?

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(5.13) "An accent is not a measurement of intelligence...an accent is just somebody speaking your language using the rules of theirs--that's all an accent is."

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"Don't Lose Your Accent / Learning Accents" - TREVOR NOAH (Pay Back The Funny)

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The 11 official languages of South Africa

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The 11 official languages of South Africa

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For centuries South Africa’s official languages were European – Dutch, English, Afrikaans

In 1996 South Africa’s new Constitution gave official protection to all major languages. South Africa’s Constitution recognises 11 official languages: Sepedi (also known as Sesotho sa Leboa), Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu.

English is an urban language of public life, widely used in the media, business and government. Out of the 4.9-million South Africans who speak English as a first language, a third (33%) are white, a quarter (24%) are black, 22% are Indian and 19% are coloured South Africans. English is widely used as a second language and common language of communication, mainly in the cities.

South Africans are more than bilingual. A rough estimate based on Census 2001 first-language data and a 2002 study of second-languages speakers is that the average South African – man, woman, and child – uses 2.84 languages. Obviously, many people are limited to one, and many others able to speak three, four, or more languages.

Many South Africans are compelled to learn English, and often Afrikaans as well, simply to get a job and to work. While in other countries multilingualism is a sign of intellectualism, but in South Africa, multilingualism is more often a common achievement of the poor.

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South Africa has 11 official languages and a multilingual population fluent in at least two. IsiZulu and isiXhosa are the largest languages, while English is spoken at home by only one in 10 people - most of them not white.

South Africa's constitution recognises 11 official languages: Sepedi (also known as Sesotho sa Leboa), Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu.

For centuries South Africa's official languages were European - Dutch, English, Afrikaans. African languages, spoken by at least 80% of the people, were ignored. In 1996 South Africa's new constitution gave official protection to all of the country's major languages.

South Africa has about 34 historically established languages. Thirty are living languages, and four extinct Khoesan languages.

Jump to:

Overview of South Africa's languages

IsiZulu is South Africa's biggest language, spoken by almost a quarter (23%) of the population. Our other official languages are isiXhosa (spoken by 16%), Afrikaans (13.5%), English (10%), Sesotho sa Leboa (9%), Setswana and Sesotho (both 8%), Xitsonga (4.5%), siSwati and Tshivenda (both 2.5%), and isiNdebele (2%).

English is an urban language of public life, widely used in the media, business and government. Out of the 4.9-million South Africans who speak English as a first language, a third (33%) are white, a quarter (24%) are black, 22% are Indian and 19% are coloured South Africans. English is widely used as a second language and common language of communication, mainly in the cities.

Afrikaans is a version of Dutch that evolved out of a South Holland dialect brought here in the 1600s. Over the centuries it has picked up many influences from African languages, as well as from European colonial languages such as English, French and German. More than half (50.2%) of Afrikaans speakers are coloured, 40% are white, 9% black and just 1% Indian.

South Africa's nine African official languages all fall into the Southern Bantu-Makua subfamily, part of the broad and branching Niger-Congo family of languages. The languages arrived here during the great expansion of Bantu-speaking people from West Africa eastwards and southwards into the rest of the continent. The expansion began in around 3000 BCE and was largely complete by 1000 CE.

Like all languages in the Niger-Congo family they are tonal languages, in which either a high or low tone gives a word a different meaning.

The nine African languages can be broadly divided in two:

Nguni-Tsonga languages: isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, siSwati, Xitsonga

Sotho-Makua-Venda languages: Sesotho, Sesotho sa Leboa, Setswana, Tshivenda

Within the first group Xitsonga alone falls into the Tswa-Ronga subfamily, while isiZulu, isiXhosa, isNdebele and siSwati are Nguni languages.

Similarly, Sesotho, Sesotho sa Leboa and Setswana are closely related Sotho languages, and Tshivenda something of a standalone in the Sotho-Makua-Venda subfamily.

Multilingual South Africa

South Africans are more than bilingual. A rough estimate based on Census 2001 first-language data and a 2002 study of second-languages speakers is that the average South African - man, woman and child - uses 2.84 languages. Obviously, many people are limited to one, and many others able to speak three, four or more languages.

English- and Afrikaans-speaking people (mostly coloured, Indian and white South Africans) tend not to have much ability in African languages, but are fairly fluent in each other's language. Multilingualism is common among black South Africans.

For this reason, South African censuses ask people which two languages they speak. The question in the 2011 Census was:
Which two languages does (member of household) speak most often in this household?
Thirteen options were given: South Africa's 11 official languages, plus Sign Language, and "Other". If a person did not speak a second language, that too was recorded.

The contrast between first language and second language is shown in the maps at right. While the geographical pattern of dominant first languages neatly conforms to the facts of history and urbanisation, the picture of second languages is more complicated, more of a mess.

The second map reveals a couple of things. The first is how few South Africans speak just one language. The second is that while English is the dominant first language only in the cities - Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban - it is widely used as a second language across the country. English is spread by the media and used as a common language of communication.

But many South Africans are compelled to learn English, and often Afrikaans as well, simply to get a job and to work. These are often poorer people denied an adequate education. Elsewhere in the world the ability to speak many languages is a sign of sophistication. In South Africa, multilingualism - a complex undertaking, especially in languages from very different families - is a common achievement of the poor.

Code-switching South Africa

Language is fluid, especially in South Africa. Our languages are and have been for centuries in a constant swirl, mixed by work, migration, education, urbanisation, the places we live, friendship and marriage.

Because of this, South Africans are a code-switching people. "Code switching" simply means using more than one language in a single conversation. Every adult South African does this at some time, even if they aren't aware of it.

Here's an example overheard at a football match. IsiZulu is in regular type, Afrikaans in bold and English in italics:

"I-Chiefs isidle nge- referee's ngabe ihambe sleg.
Maar why benga stopi this system ye- injury time?"

A rough translation:

"Chiefs [the football club] have won because the referee favoured them. Otherwise, they would have lost.
But why is this system of injury time not stopped?"

Influenced by the other languages spoken around them, all of South Africa's languages change and grow all the time.

Who speaks what?
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South Africa's most recent census was in 2011. The following table gives a breakdown of first-language speakers, as recorded by the census.

South Africa's 11 official languages

The languages of the provinces

The languages you hear in South Africa depend on where you are in the country.

In the Eastern Cape isiXhosa is spoken by 80% of the population. IsiZulu is the largest language in both KwaZulu-Natal, where 78% speak it, and Gauteng, where it makes up 20% of languages. Sesotho is the language of the Free State, spoken by 64% people there. And so on ...
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The main languages of each province are:

Eastern Cape - isiXhosa (78.8%), Afrikaans (10.6%)

Free State - Sesotho (64.2%), Afrikaans (12.7%)

Gauteng - isiZulu (19.8%), English (13.3%), Afrikaans (12.4%), Sesotho (11.6%)

KwaZulu-Natal - isiZulu (77.8%), English (13.2%)

Limpopo - Sesotho sa Leboa (52.9%), Xitsonga (17%), Tshivenda (16.7%)

Mpumalanga - siSwati (27.7%), isiZulu (24.1%), Xitsonga (10.4%), isiNdebele (10.1%)

Northern Cape - Afrikaans (53.8%), Setswana (33.1%)

North West - Setswana (63.4%), Afrikaans (9%)

Western Cape - Afrikaans (49.7%), isiXhosa (24.7%), English (20.3%)

The languages

Unless otherwise indicated, all figures below are from Census 2011 and refer only to first language - the language spoken at home.

Afrikaans

Afrikaans evolved out of a 17th-century Dutch dialect introduced to South Africa in 1652 when the Dutch first colonised the Cape of Good Hope. Today it is the majority language of the Northern Cape.

Afrikaans became an official language in South Africa with the Official Languages of the Union Act of 1925, which retroactively dated the language's official status to 1910.

The 6,855,082 South Africans who speak Afrikaans as a first language make up 13.5% of the country's total population. More than half (50.2%) of these Afrikaans speakers are coloured, 39.5% white, 8.8% black, 0.9% Indian or Asian, and 0.6% other.

More than three-quarters (75.8%) of coloured South Africans speak Afrikaans, as do almost two-thirds (60.8%) of whites. It is the home language of 4.6% of Indian or Asian people, and of 1.5% of black South Africans.

Afrikaans and South Africa's population groups

Most Afrikaans speakers (41%) live in the Western Cape, and 21% in Gauteng. Ten percent of all Afrikaans speakers live in the Eastern Cape, 8.8% in the Northern Cape, and 5% in the Free State.

Within the provinces, Afrikaans is the majority language in the Northern Cape (53.8%) and the Western Cape (49.7%). It makes up 12.7% of languages spoken in the Free State, 12.4% of Gauteng's languages, 10.6% of languages in the Eastern Cape, 9% in North West, 7.2% in Mpumalanga, 2.6% in Limpopo and 1.6% in KwaZulu-Natal.

English

English is a prominent language in South African public life, widely used in government, business and the media. As a first language it is mainly confined to the cities.

In 1910 English and Dutch were declared the official languages of the new Union of South Africa. English has retained this official status ever since.

The 4,892,623 South Africans who speak English as a first language make up 9.6% of the country's total population. Among first-language English speakers, 32.8% are white, 23.9% black, 22.4% Indian and 19.3% coloured.

The majority (86.1%) of Indian South Africans speak English as their home language, as do over a third (35.9%) of whites. It is the first language of 20.8% of coloured people, and of 2.9% of black South Africans.

English and South Africa's population groups

The largest number of English speakers are in Gauteng - 1.6-million people, or a third (32.8%) of all English-speaking South Africans. Over a quarter (27.3%) live in KwaZulu-Natal, 23.5% in the Western Cape, and 7.4% in the Eastern Cape.

English is a minority language within all nine provinces.

It is the second-largest language in both the Western Cape (after Afrikaans) and Gauteng (after isiZulu). In the Western Cape it is spoken by 20.2% of the population, and in Gauteng by 13.3%. English is minimally spoken in the other provinces.

isiNdebele

IsiNdebele is the least spoken of South Africa's 11 official languages, and confined mainly to Mpumalanga and Gauteng. It is an Nguni language, like isiZulu, isiXhosa and siSwati. Also called Southern Ndebele, it is not to be confused with Northern Ndebele, more commonly known as Matabele, which is closer to isiZulu and an official language of Zimbabwe.

The 1,090,223 South Africans who speak isiNdebele as a first language make up just 2.1% of the country's total population. Among first-language isiNdebele speakers, 97% are black, 0.9% Indian or Asian, 0.8% coloured, 0.8% white and 0.5% other.

IsiNdebele is spoken by 2.6% of black South Africans - fewer than the 2.9% who speak English at home. It is barely spoken by other population groups, being the home language of 0.2% of both the coloured and white population, and 0.8% of Indian or Asian people. It is also spoken by 2.1% of people who describe themselves as "other".

IsiNdebele and South Africa's population groups

Most isiNdebele speakers (37%) live in Mpumalanga, followed by Gauteng (34.9%), KwaZulu-Natal (10.2%), Limpopo (9.6%) and North West (4%).

IsiNdebele is a minority language in all the provinces. It is spoken by 10.1% of the population of Mpumalanga and 3.2% of Gautengers.

isiXhosa

The dominant language of the Eastern Cape, isiXhosa is also the second-largest language in South Africa after isiZulu. It is an Nguni language, like isiNdebele, isiZulu and siSwati, but also shows some influence from the Khoekhoe languages.

The 8,154,258 South Africans who speak isiXhosa as a first language make up 16% of the country's total population. Among first-language isiXhosa speakers, 99.4% are black, 0.3% coloured, 0.2% white and 0.1% Indian or Asian.

Among the population groups, isiXhosa is spoken by 20.1% of black South Africans, the second-largest share after isiZulu. It is the home language of 0.6% of coloured people, 0.4% of Indians, 0.3% of whites and 1.9% of people who describe themselves as "other".

IsiXhosa and South Africa's population groups

Close to two-thirds (62.4%) of first-language isiXhosa speakers live in the Eastern Cape, and 17.2% in the Western Cape. About a tenth (9.8%) of all isiXhosa speakers live in Gauteng.

Within the provinces, isiXhosa is the majority language in the Eastern Cape, where its 5,092,152 first-language users make up 78.8% of the population. In the Western Cape a quarter (24.7%) of the population speaks isiXhosa. IsiXhosa is spoken by 7.5% of people in the Free State, 6.6% in Gauteng, 5.5% in North West, and 5.3% in the Northern Cape.

isiZulu

IsiZulu is the most widely spoken language in South Africa, the first language of close to a quarter of the population. It is the dominant language of KwaZulu-Natal. Like isiNdebele, isiXhosa and siSwati, isiZulu is an Nguni language.

The 11,587,374 South Africans who speak isiZulu as their home language make up 22.7% of the country's total population. A full 99.4% of first-language isiZulu speakers are black, 0.2% coloured, 0.1% white and 0.1% Indian or Asian.

IsiZulu is spoken by 28.5% of black South Africans, more than any other language. It is the home language of 1.3% of Indian or Asian people, 0.5% of coloureds, 0.4% of whites and 4.1% of people who describe themselves as "other".

IsiZulu and South Africa's population groups

Over two-thirds (68.2%) of isiZulu-speaking South Africans live in KwaZulu-Natal, and more than a fifth (20.6% in Gauteng). Some 8.3% of all isiZulu speakers live in Mpumalanga, which borders KwaZulu-Natal to the northwest. The rest are thinly spread across the other provinces.

Within the provinces, isiZulu is spoken by over three-quarters (77.8%) of the population of KwaZulu-Natal, and nearly a quarter (24.1%) of the people of Mpumalanga. Almost a fifth (19.8%) of Gautengers speak isiZulu. It is a small minority language in the rest of the provinces.

Sesotho

Sesotho is the language of the Free State, and the first language of 3,798,915 South Africans, or 7.6% of the total population. It is one of the three Sotho languages, with Sesotho sa Leboa and Setswana.

A full 98.7% of first-language Sesotho speakers are black, 0.6% coloured, 0.5% white and 0.1% Indian or Asian.

Sesotho is spoken by just under a tenth (9.4%) of black South Africans. It is the home language of 0.5% of coloured people, of 0.4% of both white and Indian/Asian people, and of 1.7% of the people who describe themselves as "other".

Sesotho and South Africa's population groups

Most (44.6%) Sesotho speakers live in the Free State. The inner curve of this bean-shaped province fits around the northwest border of Lesotho, a country where Sesotho and English are the official languages. Over a third (36.2%) of all Sesotho-speaking South Africans live in Gauteng. Some 5.2% live in North West.

Within the provinces, Sesotho is spoken by close to two-thirds (64.2%) of the population of the Free State, over a tenth (11.6%) of Gauteng, and by 5.8% of people living in North West.

Sesotho sa Leboa (Sepedi)

Also known as: Northern Sotho
First-language users: 4,618,576 (9.1% of the population)
Second-language users: 9,100,000 (2002 estimate)
All users: 13,518,576 (estimate)
Sesotho sa Leboa or Sepedi?
The 1993 interim Constitution named the language Sesotho sa Leboa. It was then changed to Sepedi in the final Constitution of 1996. Debate on the right name continues. Most language experts, as well as speakers of the language, consider Sesotho sa Leboa to be the correct name, and Sepedi to be a dialect. In a study of the language policy of six South African universities, five used Sesotho sa Leboa and one Sepedi. But both the Department of Basic Education and Statistics South Africa use Sepedi as the language's name.
Sesotho sa Leboa is South Africa's third-largest African language (after isiZulu and isiXhosa), and mainly spoken in Limpopo. Like Sesotho and Setswana, it is a Sotho language.

Sesotho sa Leboa is the first language of 4,618,576 people, or 9.1% of the total population. A full 99.7% of first-language Sesotho sa Leboa speakers are black, 0.1% coloured, 0.1% white and 0.1% Indian or Asian.

Sesotho sa Leboa is spoken by 11.4% of black South Africans. It is the home language of just 0.2% of Indians, 0.1% of coloureds, 0.1% of whites and 0.6% of people who describe themselves as "other".

Sesotho sa Leboa and South Africa's population groups

Nearly two-thirds of (61.2%) of all Sesotho sa Leboa speakers live in Limpopo, over a quarter (27.8%) in Gauteng and 8.1% in Mpumalanga. The rest of the language's speakers are scattered around the country.

Within the provinces, Sesotho sa Leboa is spoken by more than half (52.9%) the people of Limpopo, 10.6% of those in Gauteng, and 9.3% of Mpumalanga's population.

Setswana

The language of North West and its neighbouring country of Botswana, Setswana is the Tswanaic language in the Sotho-Tswana subfamily, which it shares with Sesotho and Sesotho sa Leboa. Its 3,996,951 speakers make up 8% of South Africa's population.

Some 98.3% of Setswana speakers are black, 1% coloured, 0.1% Indian or Asian and 0.1% white.

Setswana is spoken by 9.9% of black South Africans, making it the third-largest language in the population group. It is the first language of 0.9% of coloured people, 0.4% of both Indians and whites, and 2.4% of people who describe themselves as "other".

Setswana and South Africa's population groups

Over a half (52.9%) of Setswana speakers live in North West, a quarter (26.9%) in Gauteng, and close on a tenth (9.2%) in the Northern Cape. Both North West and the Northern Cape lie on the border of Botswana, where 79% of the population speak Setswana.

Within the provinces, Setswana is spoken by nearly two-thirds (63.4%) of the population of North West, a third (33.1%) of the Northern Cape's people, by 9.1% of Gauteng's population and 5.2% of the Free State's.

siSwati

SiSwati is mostly spoken in Mpumalanga, which along its curved eastern border almost encircles the country of Swaziland. SiSwati is an Nguni language, like isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu.

The 1,297,046 people who speak siSwati are just 2.5% of South Africa's population, making it the country's third-smallest language. Among first-language siSwati speakers, 99.3% are black, 0.3% coloured, 0.2% white and 0.1% Indian or Asian.

In the population as a whole, siSwati is spoken by 3.2% of black South Africans, by around 0.1% of the other population groups, and by 0.5% of people who describe themselves as "other".

SiSwati and South Africa's population groups

Most siSwati speakers live in Mpumalanga - 85.3% of its total users and the highest provincial concentration of any language. Another tenth (10.5%) live in Gauteng, and the rest are scattered mainly over the northern parts of the country.

Within the provinces, sisSwati is spoken by 27.7% of the total population of Mpumalanga, and just 1.1% of Gautengers.

Tshivenda

Tshivenda is something of a standalone among South Africa's major African languages, falling into the broader Sotho-Makua-Venda subfamily but not part of the Sotho group. It is mostly spoken in the far northeast of Limpopo.

The 1,209,388 South Africans who speak Tshivenda are just 2.4% of the country's population, making it the second-smallest language after isiNdebele. A full 99.4% of first-language Tshivenda speakers are black, 0.2% coloured, 0.2% white and 0.1% Indian or Asian.

Tshivenda is spoken by 3% of black South Africans, by just 0.1% of the other population groups, and by 0.5% of people who describe themselves as "other".

Tshivenda and South Africa's population groups

Three quarters (73.8%) of Tshivenda speakers live in Limpopo, giving the language the second-highest provincial concentration after siSwati. A further 22.5% of Tshivenda speakers live in Gauteng.

Within the provinces, Tshivenda is spoken by 16.7% of the population of Limpopo, and 2.3% of the population of Gauteng.

Xitsonga

Xitsonga is a minority language concentrated along South Africa's northeast border with the country of Mozambique, where it is also spoken. Within the broader Nguni-Tsonga language subfamily which it shares with isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu and siSwati, it alone falls into the Tswa-Ronga group, while the other languages are Nguni.

The 2,277,148 South Africans who speak Xitsonga as their home language make up 4.5% of the country's total population. A full 99.1% of first-language Xitsonga speakers are black, 0.2% white, 0.1% coloured and 0.1% Indian or Asian.

Xitsonga is spoken by 5.6% of black South Africans, 0.2% of Indians, 0.1% of whites, 0.05% of coloureds and 3.9% of people who describe themselves as "other".

Xitsonga and South Africa's population groups

Nearly two-fifths (39.8%) of Xitsonga-speaking South Africans live in Limpopo, over a third (35%) in Gauteng, 18.3% in Mpumalanga and 5.6% in North West.

Within the provinces, Xitsonga is spoken by 17% of the population of Limpopo, 10.4% of Mpumalanga and 6.6% of the people in Gauteng.

Sources and notes

Researched, written and designed by Mary Alexander.
Updated 22 October 2023.
Comments? Email mary1alexander@gmail.com

The graphics on this page are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.

Categories: Arts & Culture

Tagged as: Afrikaans, education, English, History, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, language, population groups, provinces, Sesotho, Sesotho sa Leboa, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga

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The 11 languages of South Africa - South Africa Gateway

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South Africa has 11 official languages, and a multilingual population. IsiZulu and isiXhosa are the largest languages. English is spoken at home by 10% of the population.

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Find out more about the languages of South Africa

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A melting pot for multicultural and multilingual exchange

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A melting pot for multicultural and multilingual exchange

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(3.42) "The Education system now is based on freedom of choice with every individual free to choose which of the 11 official languages to be educated in for the first part of their schooling, as long as there's sufficient demand for the school to provide it."

Proving the multicultural and multilingualism of South Africa, citizens are allowed to choose their first and second languages including medium of instruction in primary schools. Secondary and tertiary schools teach in dominantly English or Afrikaans.

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Under Apartheid, language was used as tool to divide and conquer. This brought a negative light to Afrikaans and English as the oppressor's language or a "white" language. Nowadays, 7 in 10 out of the seven million speaking Afrikaans is a black person. English is the second most commonly spoken language in Africa outside of the "home" environment. (which is to say, it is the preferred L2 of many)

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Afrikaans to be scrapped as the language of Education in universities?

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Afrikaans to be scrapped as the language of Education in universities?

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In 2019 the University of Pretoria took measures to remove Afrikaans as the language of instruction, because statistics showed that although in 1992, 85% of its students came from Afrikaans-speaking households in 1992, this figure dropped to 30% in 2015. By 2016 only 18% of students requested for classes to be conducted in Afrikaans.

This clearly indicates a higher demand for university education to be conducted in English, instead of Afrikaans.

Ideologically Afrikaans is still associated with the history of segregation and discrimination. Even today black students at the University of Pretoria complain that they face discrimination, as lecturers refuse to speak in English and use Afrikaans instead.

Other evidence shows that attempts to scrap Afrikaans was received negatively by the Supreme Court of South Africa. In 2021, the University of South Africa (Unisa) faced legal action, in this regard. The court ruled that Unisa's actions were in contravention to Section 29(2) of the Constitution, which allows the right to receive an education in an official language or language of choice.

(Language is a marker of identity and in this instance, the power struggle between Afrikaans and English remains at the center of educational issues.)

*As a solution: greater language inclusion rather than exclusion should be the way forward with regards to educational policy making at university level. *

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A top South African university has dropped Afrikaans as its official language in favour of English.

The University of Pretoria told the BBC it needed to "transform the culture" to make it "truly South African".

English is the preferred language of instruction for many in South Africa.

Afrikaans language policy has historically been used to exclude black learners in a country where racism remains deeply embedded 25 years after white-minority rule ended.

The word apartheid, which has now been internationalised and is in the Oxford Dictionary, is in fact an Afrikaans word.

The language is still spoken by millions, but it is hoped that this move will make the many more millions who do not speak it feel welcomed in one of the best academic institutions in the country.

Alienating

Black and non-Afrikaans-speaking students on Twitter have been discussing the new policy, with many sharing the humiliating and alienating treatment they say they were subjected to at the University of Pretoria.

One said that black students were intentionally humiliated by Afrikaans-speaking lecturers.

Luckily, I studied in English there BUT man, I had the most wicked Afrikaans speaking lecturers. They deliberatley used to fail Black students and then take pleasure in watching them beg for 2 marks to pass. 😔
- Michelle (@Michelle_Igwe) January 25, 2019

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. View original tweet on Twitter

Another remembers the language being a struggle for them as a black 17-year-old teenager from a township.

A few days after landing @ University of Pretoria as a first year student post 1994, I was confronted by academic buildings named in Afrikaans. You can imagine that struggle for a black 17-year- old teenager straight from a township. Help came from black personnel @ the library
- Getrude Makhafola 🇿🇦 (@GetrudeM) January 25, 2019

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. View original tweet on Twitter

And another former student said lecturers refused to speak English, telling students: "If you don't understand that's not my problem."

Lecturers would walk in an English lecture room and tell us "My English is bad, so I'll mostly revert to Afrikaans and if you don't understand that's not my problem," that was in 2010. Had a tough time having to understand a lot of things, had never done Afrikaans in my life
- Ero-Sennin (@Its_Neo_) January 25, 2019

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. View original tweet on Twitter

When asked about these testimonies, the University of Pretoria's spokesman Rikus Delport told the BBC: "I'm sure there are incidents of that happening.

"That's what led to the whole coming together, and saying 'let's decide how we go forward'. It flowed from that."

Towards multilingualism

South Africa has 11 official languages - Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Sepedi, Setswana, English, Sesotho, Xitsonga, Siswati, Tshivenda and Ndebele.

Their constitutional recognition came with the advent of democracy, in an attempt to help end institutional racism and heal South Africa's bitter historical divisions.

"In an ideal world we would like all languages to have equal status in teaching, but it's not practically possible or feasible, so not a lot happens in other languages," the University of Pretoria's spokesman told the BBC.

"The university will still encourage multilingualism. We'll offer support services to students in their enrolment - where practically possible - in their home language."

Graduations and other official ceremonies will continue to feature the three languages already in use for those occasions - English, Afrikaans and Sepedi.

South Africa's top six mother-tongue languages:

Zulu: 22.7%, Xhosa: 16%, Afrikaans: 13.5%, English: 9.6%, Setswana: 8%, Sesotho: 7.6%

South Africa has 11 official languages altogether

English is the most commonly spoken language used officially and in business

Source: SA.info/Census 2011

Demand for Afrikaans-language teaching is falling, according to the University of Pretoria, which says 85% of its students came from Afrikaans-speaking households in 1992, dropping to 30% in 2015. Only 18% of students said they wanted classes in Afrikaans at the last count in 2016.

"Afrikaans will be phased out over time," the University of Pretoria's spokesman told the BBC. "Students already in the pipeline will still continue getting their classes in Afrikaans."

Although the changes came into effect at the start of the year, the university says the decision to switch to English was made back in 2016, prompted by high profile student campaigns across the country like #AfrikaansMustFall and #FeesMustFall.

Backlash

The pro-Afrikaner civil rights group AfriForum opposed the University of Pretoria's proposed reform at the time, and has now accused the university of dishonesty in its changes to languages policy. The university denies this.

"They got it wrong. They associated it with [the appointment of] the new vice-chancellor - but I don't know where they got that impression, because the change has been coming for some time".

South Africa's finance minister has also waded into the debate, saying people will regret the university's decision to drop Afrikaans in years to come.

"It's obvious there are people who differ from us, who don't agree with it - and we have to accept that," the University of Pretoria's spokesman said.

"This was a decision made by an extended consultation process over a long period of time, not something that happened overnight."

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Afrikaans scrapped at South Africa's University of Pretoria

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A top South African university has dropped Afrikaans as its official language in favour of English. The University of Pretoria told the BBC it needed to "transform the culture" to make it "truly South African". English is the preferred language of instruction for many in South Africa.

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Phonetic and grammatical features of BSAE and ISAE

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Phonetic and grammatical features of BSAE and ISAE

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This extract from a book chapter lists out certain linguistic features of ISAE, BSAE and also common features of African Englishes, seen in South African English as well. Grammatical features of ISAE as noted by Mesthrie (2002) including the use of “isn’t” as an invariant tag, use of parallel and double conjunctions are noted. The author disagrees with Mesthrie on the distinctiveness of these features to ISAE as most of them are observed in other varieties too.

The extract notes that the phonetic features of BSAE are similar to that of other African varieties, being non-rhotic and showing no difference between certain long and short vowel sounds, among others. In addition the common linguistic features of African Englishes including avoidance of fricatives and leveling of vowel lengths with regards to pronunciation, and the use of verb+ing constructions in terms of grammar, are listed down.

Book title:
World Englishes: Implications for International communication and English language teaching by Andy Kirkpatrick

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World Englishes_ Implications for International Communication and English Language Teaching ( PDFDrive )

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These two book chapters provide a comprehensive and detailed account of the morphology and syntax of BSAE and ISAE.

BSAE (among others):

1. Be + -ing occurs in a range of contexts

2. -s in past tense contexts

3. Can be able (different from other varieties in SA)

4. In indirect questions, auxiliaries are inverted with the subject

5. Negation (eg: Isn’t he arriving tomorrow—>Yes, he isn’t)

6. Preference for the overt expression of complementisers like that and to

7. Double conjunctions

8. a often replaces zero articles of StE

9. Pronoun substitution

10. Topicalisation and focusing in word order

ISAE (among others):

1. Be + -ing occurs in a range of contexts that do not always coincide with those of Standard English

2. Shall is rarely used, sometimes replaced by will

3. Deletion of ‘s

4. Use of habitual be

5. Inversion of auxiliaries

6. The use of never as an equivalent of didn’t or haven’t

7. Sometimes clauses are linked without overt syntactic markings

8. One is an alternative form for the indefinite article a

9. Ordering the proper noun before the common noun

Book title:
A Handbook of Varieties of English (Volume 2): Morphology and Syntax (2004)

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2004 A Handbook of Varieties of English. Volume 2_ Morphology and Syntax ( PDFDrive )