Opposition party welcomes opinion on indigenous languages

Times Live 14 May 2022

The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) in South Africa has described a report containing the opinion of Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande, who stated that Afrikaans, Khoi and San languages are indigenous, as a historic victory for the protection and promotion of South Africa’s cultural and linguistic diversity in general, and for speakers of Afrikaans and the Khoi and San languages in particular, writes Ernest Mabuza for Times Live.

The opinion was prepared after questions by DA MP Leon Schreiber who asked, in view of the latest Language Policy Framework for Higher Education Institutions published by the Department of Higher Education and Training on 30 October 2020, why Afrikaans and all Khoi and San languages were excluded in the definition of ‘indigenous’ languages.

Schreiber said once these changes are effected in the policy framework, Afrikaans, Khoi and San cannot be legally deprived of the resources allocated to developing and promoting indigenous SA languages, including at South Africa’s universities.
Full report on the Times Live site

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