Language in the Rainbow Nation

By: Sabrina Katz

November 3, 2012

The eetsaal (Afrikaans for cafeteria) in Metanoia residence hall around dinnertime is abuzz with student conversation. Students crowd around the dining tables, exchanging greetings and comments about the food and weather. Grabbing my tray and silverware, I see a friend at a nearby table and greet her using a typical South African English salutation: “Howzit?”

After receiving my tray of food, I thank the cafeteria server in Afrikaans—baie dankie—and sit down at a table, where several of my friends are speaking Xhosa and others are chatting in Ndebele. I recognize only a few words in the language before they switch to English in my presence to include me in the conversation. In about two minutes, I have experienced three languages, and yet, in my four months in South Africa, I have still not heard every one of the country’s languages. South Africa has 11 official languages, and you would be hard pressed to find a local who can name all of them.

Language has, in many ways, predicated and mirrored the social climate of the time. During apartheid, English and Afrikaans were the only official languages even though less than 15 percent of the population called one of these languages their own. During the years of transition in the early 1990s, nine more "African" languages were added in order to recognize the newfound equality of all races and ethnic groups in the country, at long last.

Now, at Stellenbosch University, language continues to be a major point of contention. Historically, the language of instruction is Afrikaans, but since democracy has allowed for a more multilingual student body, English has been used more and more, for it is seen as a more international language, and most students speak it as their second language, if not their first. I have several classes in “T-option,” which indicates the class is taught approximately 50 percent English and 50 percent Afrikaans. The lecturers are required to accommodate both languages in lectures and readings.

Amongst students, there exist more language tensions. Speakers of Afrikaans fear the death of their language as English becomes more prevalent. Afrikaans was also the language of the apartheid regime, so this language is associated with white oppression, even though the roots of the language lie within the colored, or mixed race, community of South Africa. My friends who speak African languages feel frustrated when some Afrikaans speakers will not speak to them in English, even though it is their only common language. One of my Afrikaans speaking friends told me, “I feel uncomfortable speaking Afrikaans sometimes, since most people speak English. Therefore, most of my friends are all Afrikaans, so I feel more at home with my language and my culture.”

Since its democratization, South Africa has made many strides towards creating a sense of unity and cohesion within a highly diverse and stratified society. However, language discourse continues to reflect and fuel social unrest. In many ways, this is an issue within many nations across the world, including the United States: how do we foster unity while honoring cultural and linguistic diversity?

Although this question is a constant struggle for South Africa, I caught a glimpse of its answer on September 24 of this year: Heritage Day is a public holiday, intended to encourage South Africans to reflect on their various cultural heritages. However, South Africans do not recognize this holiday as Heritage Day. Here, September 24 is National Braai Day, a rebranding owed to patrons such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu. This holiday is seen not only as a celebration of diversity, but also as a recognition of unity, as all South Africans take the day to braai, an Afrikaans term for barbecuing. Braai is playfully called South Africa’s national sport, for all social, racial, ethnic, regional, and economic groups are said to practice and enjoy it. And across the eleven official languages of the rainbow nation, braai is a universal term. Despite the rich diversity, braai, like any national sport, brings South Africa together. Perhaps, then, national harmony dons an apron.

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