“Preserving the diverse linguistic tapestry of South Africa is not only a duty but a privilege,” writes Joanne Lombard, Head of the Language Unit in the Faculty of Humanities.

Our quality of life and sense of identity are improved by encounters with language in all forms – such as in Es’kia Mphahlele’s story collection, The Unbroken Song (1981) – as language is part of one's identity and fosters a sense of belonging and pride. African languages are preserved by recording and digitising oral traditions, folklore and written materials, lending indigenous words to European languages if there is a gap in those lexicons, and establishing cultural centres and exchange programmes.

African languages are promoted through immersion programmes, centres that use cross-lingual models for developing terminology with the aid of the Pan South African Language Board, multilingual education models and language courses, from first-year home language or beginner modules to PhD level.

The resultant increased competence in African languages should be reflected in the rate of use of the languages. Technology that promotes African languages on different platforms is developed and improved by experts such as Data Science for Social Impact, Lelapa AI, Masakhane, the Deep Learning Indaba, and Reach Digital Health, where mobile technology is used to connect people to the health system. Tools and resources also facilitate using African languages for artistic, literary and social expression: cellphones are used for flash fiction writing in the Yoza Project.

In language studies, the geographical landscape is mapped to identify language usage in regions, including what is seen on signage, be it strictly informative or linguistically creative to improve a sense of connection and the perceived strength of that language. With support from the government, the digital linguistic landscape too, including Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, can be replete with African voices and open up economic opportunities.

Sporting events that prioritise African languages and traditions foster pride and identity among speakers. South Africa’s anthem for the Rugby World Cup 2023, ‘Amabokoboko’, a rugby-themed remix of kwaito artist Mgarimbe’s isiZulu and English hit ‘Sister Bethina’, includes a roaring war-like challenge and praise singing. 

The National Library of South Africa and the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) through the DSAC Publishing Hub promote African language literatures in cooperation with publishers and editors, adding to the existing body of literary gems. In the academic publications sphere, journals can promote African languages by funding workshops for writing proposals and articles with meaningful collaboration, by recruiting diverse reviewers and editors, and by publishing online summaries in African languages.

Translations, too, enable the sharing of stories and narratives, and scholars constantly assess the effectiveness of the translators’ style and vocabulary. Translations into African languages of renowned English and French works include John Bunyan’s allegory, Pilgrim’s Progress (1678), into isiXhosa as U-Hambo lom-Hambi by Tiyo Soga (1866) and The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1943) into isiXhosa, Setswana and isiZulu. The Africa Pulse book series, on the other hand, inspired by the many translations of Thomas Mofolo’s Chaka, features translations of indigenous literature into English, resurrecting a love story from the 1850s set in KwaZulu-Natal, an inheritance dispute in Xhosa culture during the 1820s and a mythical Sesotho narrative. Indigenous languages also feature in the translation of a classic poem from ancient Greek into South African English, The Iliad of Homer: A Southern African Translation by Richard Whitaker (2012), in which battle scenes of the Trojan War are localised by drawing on Zulu praise poems from the 1800s, and loan-words from isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu occur throughout the work.

African languages are thriving, enriching our society and the lives of all who speak them. Preserving the diverse linguistic tapestry of South Africa is not only a duty but a privilege.