Our+languages+matter,+ANC+President+Jacob+Zuma,+ANC+Today



=** Our languages matter! **=


 * ANC President Jacob Zuma, ANC Today, 15 February 2008**

On February 21, the world will celebrate International Mother Language Day, to promote the linguistic and cultural diversity. This year’s celebration is special because the United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of Languages, under the theme “Languages Matter!”.

In his message on the celebration, the Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Koïchiro Matsuura appeals for the importance of linguistic diversity and multilingualism to be acknowledged everywhere - in education, administrative and legal systems, in cultural expressions and in the media, cyberspace and trade. “Let all the members of the United Nations family, all the Member States, and partners and friends of UNESCO join together to show that “languages matter”, he says.

The promotion of languages and celebration of our cultural diversity is held dearly by the African National Congress. This is because in addition to the national goal of liberation, attained with the democratic elections in 1994, the ANC has always sought to build a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa, united in her diversity.

As we asserted in our Social Transformation Discussion Document ahead of the 52nd National Conference and beyond, the ANC recognises that we are at the beginning of a long journey to a truly united, democratic and prosperous South Africa, in which the value of all citizens is measured by their humanity, without regard to race, gender and social status. We said: “Inspired by the Freedom Charter and the principles enshrined in the Reconstruction and Development Programme, we continue unabated with our social transformation programme, informed by the democratic principles of the people-centred and people-driven state and a value system based on human solidarity. These pillars are the attributes of a caring society and it beckons us to forge a social compact - made up of all races - that has, as its central objective of social policy, the preservation and development of human resources, including our languages and ensuring social cohesion”.

Primary among the objectives of building this equal and just society should be our collective determination to promote and celebrate our multiculturalism, which gives our country its unique identity.

There should be a renewed effort at all levels to promote multilingualism and the development of all official languages, including the South African Sign Language and the languages referred to in the South African Constitution. Our key institutions such as government or parliament should assist us to promote the right to diversity which is enshrined in our Constitution. Our Cabinet recently instructed all government departments to establish language units, so that information they produce can be made available to citizens in their mother tongues. We trust that departments are taking this executive directive seriously. Mass communication that is not done in all 11 languages cannot serve the purpose of adequately communicating to all South Africans. It is a challenge we must confront, and overcome.

Education is fundamental to the achievement of the society envisaged in the Freedom Charter. We have a responsibility to guide our children who are growing up in an increasingly cosmopolitan environment, to learn and speak as many of our official languages as possible. We have to ensure that they do not develop any contempt for their mother tongues, their communities of origin and their history.

Opportunities have come to the fore for such mother tongue promotion, such as the introduction of the new School Pledge and the launch of the new massive literacy drive soon. Children can be encouraged to develop a sense of pride in their country as well as in their languages if they also recite the School Pledge in different languages depending on the region.

We also would better serve the interests of the majority of South Africans, including our illiterate or semi-literate citizens, if we concentrate on strengthening their command of their mother tongues in addition to the skills of managing essential economic and social processes. But this task is not the responsibility of government alone. We all have a duty to promote our mother languages.

Our intelligentsia and authors could also begin to use mother tongues more as languages of intellectual engagement and publishing. We should be having books in our history being produced in mother tongues, for our history and heritage to be accessible to all our people. It means we must all also promote the reading of mother tongue literature in our country. There are classics in isiZulu by authors such as BW Vilakazi, Otty Nxumalo, CT Msimang and others, and in isiXhosa for example Ingqumbo yeminyanya by AC Jordan and several others. These are the types of books whose world will be shut forever to our youth who still have to be introduced to mother tongue literature.

Our print media too, should ideally be available in more languages, not just English and Afrikaans. It is a pity that a newspaper such as Imvo Zabantsundu was closed down. Other than its rich history, it would be playing a critical role of promoting mainstream reading and interaction in the isiXhosa language. KwaZulu-Natal appears to be the only province with a flourishing mother tongue media, with successful commercial titles such as UMAFRIKA, Ilanga and Isolezwe as well as several community papers in isiZulu. We need to replicate the formula in other provinces. Here is a challenge to our current and budding media owners! The market clearly exists, given the success of the existing publications.

As Matsuura points out: “Languages are absolutely vital to the identity of groups and individuals, and their peaceful coexistence. They are a strategic factor in advances towards sustainable development and the harmonious coordination of the global and the local. Far from being a field reserved for analysis by specialists, languages lie at the heart of all social, economic and cultural life’’.

May I in advance then, wish all South Africans and nations of the world a Happy International Mother Language Day on the 21st.




 * From: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/2008/at06.htm#preslet**

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