Use of Official Languages Act, 2012 (Act No. 12 of 2012)NoticesLanguage Policy of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development5. Guiding Principles and Values |
As this Policy seeks to give effect to section 4(1) of the Act, it is based on the following guiding principles:
| 5.1 | Usage, practicality, expense, regional circumstances, the balance of the needs and preferences of the population (as a whole and in the province concerned); the imperative to take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and advance the use of indigenous languages of historically diminished use and status; the provision that all official languages must enjoy parity of esteem and must be treated equitably. |
| 5.2 | Recognition that English is understood across the country, and has become a general language of use nationally and internationally. |
| 5.3 | Prevalence of language use at service points and on service sites. |
| 5.4 | Acknowledgement that Afrikaans1 is an indigenous language that enjoys popularity in the country, except in the Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces. It had official status in the past, is still an official language in terms of the Constitution, and is a second language in many communities. |
| 5.4.1 | The demographics of the country in terms of human settlement caused by apartheid policies and the establishment of ethnic -based self -governing states prior to 1994. This is reflected in the Mpumalanga province, which incorporates the former self -governing territory, the KwaNdebele homeland, which had isiNdebele as official language. As the Ndebele community is largely concentrated in Mpumalanga, it is recommended that, despite isiZulu being the most spoken language in the province, isiNdebele should be selected as an official language for use in the province. IsiNdebele is the least spoken language in all other provinces, and failure to select it for Mpumalanga would result in its exclusion from official government use, and substantively diminish its status as official language. |
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| 1 | Afrikaans is the third most common language in South Africa. It is spoken by 13,5% of the population or 6 855 082 people, mainly coloured and white South Africans, according to the SA Census 2011. The language has its roots in 17th -century Dutch with influences from English, Malay, German, Portuguese, French and some African languages |