The Pan South African Language Board, in partnership with WSU, launched a Language Activism drive in February at Efata School for the Deaf and Blind, in Mthatha.

The campaign is aimed at creating awareness around the use of the mother tongue and instilling pride in African native languages by including them in the development of the nation.

WSU Department of Arts Head, Dr Yolisa Madolo said, “No language is better than another; and no one should be forced to speak a language that is not their own if they don’t want to. Therefore, this month is set aside to revive pride in our language, thus reviving national pride and recognise that each nation has its own language.”

This year’s focus was on promoting sign language to be considered an official language and be infused in the process of the country’s development to include all nations.

“Sign language is a language that cannot be taken for granted. In this month of reviving the love of languages, we wanted to emphasize that this language should also be embraced because it is a language spoken out of  respect for mute people. We must respect their language.”

This is a campaign centred on International Mother Language Day (IMLD), a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) public observance day that takes place annually on the 21st.

“It is very important to highlight the importance of African languages, especially amongst the youth, to keep encouraging South Africans to speak and live their languages to create a more multilingual society.” said Eastern Cape PANSALB manager, Dr Xolisa Tshongolo.

The campaign has grown in stature and popularity. It provides an opportunity to re-imagine ways to effectively contribute towards the development and promotion of indigenous languages to encourage discourse on the importance of preserving native languages.

By: Ongezwa Sigodi