Date: 30/03/2004
Source: Department of Minerals and Energy
Title: P Mlambo-Ngcuka: Launch of bursary scheme and language projects
ADDRESS BY MS P MLAMBO-NGCUKA, MINISTER OF MINERALS AND ENERGY, ARTS, CULTURE, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, AT THE LAUNCH OF BURSARY SCHEME AND LANGUAGE PROJECTS, International Convention Centre, Durban, 30 March 2004
Ladies and Gentlemen
ISilo saMabandla Onke, Hlanga lomhlabathi!
Hlanga lezwe!
Deputy President, Mr Zuma
Mayor of Durban, Mr Mlaba
Deputy-Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, Ms Sonjica
Director-General of the Department of Arts and Culture, Prof Mosala
Fellow South Africans
With the advent of the ten years of democracy, the Department of Arts and Culture, like all other government departments, has had to interrogate its role in upholding linguistic diversity in our country. It is therefore a privilege for me to be part of this history that we are making here today as we launch a bursary scheme and two of our language projects, namely, the establishment of Language Research and Development Centres (LRDCs) and the Human Language Technologies (HLT) initiative.
It was indeed after a long and protracted process that the guiding legislation, known as the National Language Policy Framework (NLPF) was approved on 12 February last year. It was necessary since extensive consultations had to take place. The approval of the NLPF signifies this government's unambiguous commitment to multilingualism and the development of the indigenous languages of this country.
However, we all knew that getting the policy document approved by Cabinet was not an end itself, but a beginning. If I were to give an analogy, I would say that a policy document is like a road sign - it merely points us in the right direction. It merely provides guiding principles that we must yet put into practice.
Having said that, allow me to say that the real challenge for the Department is to implement the policy, and what I have seen so far makes it possible for me to say with confidence that we are moving in the right direction.
Ladies and gentleman, the public has been waiting to see what government is doing on the language front. But today they will have an idea. In fact, considering that the National Language Policy Framework was approved only last year, I think it is fair to say that government's achievements to date will not be forgotten soon. At the same time, it cannot be denied that we still have a long way to go with respect to the implementation of our multilingual policy, more importantly, the development of the previously marginalized languages.
I am sure you will agree with me when I say that in order to know where we are going, we need to know where we are coming from. This is why we need to be reminded that the African languages' biggest problem stems from the days of colonialism and the ill-conceived idea that African languages were inferior to colonial languages and unfit for any functional role in business or politics. It is unfortunate that many Africans also believed this myth and perpetuated it. Of course, the colonisers took no steps to remedy what they considered the inferiority of the African languages, and as some of them actually had an agenda to suppress the speakers of the language, this is hardly surprising.
We have lived with this legacy for a very long time. Today we still talk about the French-speaking parts of Africa, often referred to as Francophone Africa, the English-speaking parts, or Anglophone Africa, and the former Portuguese colonies like Angola and Mozambique.
The French, in particular, made tireless efforts to assimilate the Africans in the former French colonies. They did their best to make the Africans they colonised value French to the detriment of their own indigenous languages, and the same was more or less true for other regions. It is sad, but the Africans did little to resist, and unwittingly began to measure their worth according to their proficiency in colonial languages.
Colonial domination made us feel that way. Our languages were not valued. Jobs were available only to those who expressed themselves well in colonial languages. As official languages, French, English and Portuguese were the only languages used in government, courts, churches and businesses. Everybody strived, mostly in vain to emulate their colonisers.
Although the ambition to speak a colonial language like a native speaker was regarded as normal, strangely enough very few people believed that non-mother-tongue speakers could ever succeed in achieving this ambition. Needless to say, Africans did not worry about losing their Africanness in the process of trying but, as one's culture is embedded in one's language, it was impossible for them to compromise their languages and still keep their cultural roots intact.
The situation got worse and worse, and continued even after countries had won their freedom, but eventually Africans began to realize that giving foreign languages unfair prominence was keeping the majority of citizens, especially the uneducated, in ignorance about modern practices and their own countries. Perhaps the injustice of this situation was the reality that got African intellectuals taking the role of indigenous languages in the development of Africa seriously.
Today Africans are unanimous in claiming that in Africa development cannot take place without African languages. Let me quote a passage written by Professor Adama Semassekou, the President of the African Academy of Languages:
Four decades after the political 'independences' however, the situation of African languages keeps on widening inequalities in the fields of science, techniques, and technology. This imbalance between official languages, inherited from colonialisation, and African languages, far from facilitating a better sharing of modern knowledge and practices, jeopardizes any significant involvement of our populations in decision making on the one hand, and in the improvement of their living conditions on the other. Therefore, our commitment to the ideals of the OAU, the pressing call of our people for a quick and more involving access to writing and true democracy, the requirements of an everlasting sub-regional and regional stability, have imposed upon us the creation of an instrument for the development of our languages, likely to facilitate and reinforce linguistic co-operation between African states and, moreover, to promote the harmonization and the actual implementation of language policies conform to the aspirations of our working populations."
From its birth in 1994, the new, democratic South African government took a positive stance in supporting the development of our previously marginalized languages. Section 6(1) of our national Constitution provides for 11 official languages, and section 6(2) emphasizes the state's responsibility to take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and advance the use of the indigenous official languages.
In this sense, government has shown beyond any doubt that South Africa is now a free and democratic country, and it is in this spirit that all our people are protected under the Bill of Rights. Respecting people's rights means respecting everything that belongs to them. Over and above its communicative function, language signifies a person's identity and cultural values, and it is for this reason that language rights are so important.
Today we have come together to witness the launch of these three important initiatives that I mentioned earlier on, namely, the Bursary Scheme, establishment of LRDCs and HLT initiative. I would like to state that it is the government's goal to have all the official languages of South Africa adequately developed in order to serve the complex and diverse requirements of modern communication. The Human Language Technologies initiative, for example, will play a critical role in advancing the African languages at a technological level so that they are able to meet these requirements. To this end, the Department of Arts and Culture has established its Human Language Technologies Unit, which will work towards establishing a National Facility for Human Language Technologies within a period of five years. The purpose of the HLT unit is to coordinate the work that is done in terms of developing and managing reusable electronic language and speech resources in all the official languages of South Africa.
Earlier on I mentioned the implementation of the National Language Policy and the development of the previously marginalized languages. Developing a language requires the use of realistic strategies, and a proper plan of action with clear goals and objectives. When one thinks about developing languages one has to think about research, which provides the backbone of all language development strategies. It is for this reason that we have decided to establish Language Research and Development Centres and to link them with academic institutions. The mandates of these Centres are terminology development, literature development and research, and language planning research. More importantly, however, these Centres will ensure that the indigenous languages are used as languages of business, politics, research and government throughout South Africa, as they will encourage the use of these languages by communities, institutions of learning and government. One of the most important indirect benefits of these Centres will be their ability to change deep-rooted attitudes towards indigenous languages - attitudes that reinforce both the perception and the practice of inequality that has resulted from the lack of economic value attached to these languages.
In order to boost capacity for the implementation of the National Language Policy, the Department has set up a bursary scheme for postgraduate studies in selected language fields at various universities. The focus areas of the bursary scheme are Translation and Editing, Interpreting, Terminology Development, Language Planning and Human Language Technologies. One can say that the government has finally put its money where its mouth is as far as the language policy is concerned. For the next three years, beginning in 2004, the Department of Arts and Culture will spend R9 million on this bursary scheme.
I would like to add that the Language Bursary Scheme is being launched at a very crucial time in South Africa, when the numbers of students pursuing language studies at university level are on the decrease. We hope that this positive step will prove once and for all that the government is sincere in its intention to improve the status of the indigenous languages.
Let me take the opportunity to congratulate the universities that have the honour of hosting the Language Research and Development Centres and those that have been selected to offer courses for the bursary scheme. It is important for us as government to have collaborative partnerships with you since you have the research capacity that is needed, especially in the priority focus areas. I would also like to point out that we have selected only a few of the institutions because this is only a pilot for the first three years. The aim is for us to expand the scheme for more people to benefit. Last, but not least, I wish to congratulate the bursary recipients. All applications went through a rigorous screening process, and those who have been awarded bursaries deserve them.
Amade ngawetyala!
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Minerals and Energy
30 March 2004
Source: Department of Minerals and Energy
Title: P Mlambo-Ngcuka: Launch of bursary scheme and language projects
ADDRESS BY MS P MLAMBO-NGCUKA, MINISTER OF MINERALS AND ENERGY, ARTS, CULTURE, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, AT THE LAUNCH OF BURSARY SCHEME AND LANGUAGE PROJECTS, International Convention Centre, Durban, 30 March 2004
Ladies and Gentlemen
ISilo saMabandla Onke, Hlanga lomhlabathi!
Hlanga lezwe!
Deputy President, Mr Zuma
Mayor of Durban, Mr Mlaba
Deputy-Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, Ms Sonjica
Director-General of the Department of Arts and Culture, Prof Mosala
Fellow South Africans
With the advent of the ten years of democracy, the Department of Arts and Culture, like all other government departments, has had to interrogate its role in upholding linguistic diversity in our country. It is therefore a privilege for me to be part of this history that we are making here today as we launch a bursary scheme and two of our language projects, namely, the establishment of Language Research and Development Centres (LRDCs) and the Human Language Technologies (HLT) initiative.
It was indeed after a long and protracted process that the guiding legislation, known as the National Language Policy Framework (NLPF) was approved on 12 February last year. It was necessary since extensive consultations had to take place. The approval of the NLPF signifies this government's unambiguous commitment to multilingualism and the development of the indigenous languages of this country.
However, we all knew that getting the policy document approved by Cabinet was not an end itself, but a beginning. If I were to give an analogy, I would say that a policy document is like a road sign - it merely points us in the right direction. It merely provides guiding principles that we must yet put into practice.
Having said that, allow me to say that the real challenge for the Department is to implement the policy, and what I have seen so far makes it possible for me to say with confidence that we are moving in the right direction.
Ladies and gentleman, the public has been waiting to see what government is doing on the language front. But today they will have an idea. In fact, considering that the National Language Policy Framework was approved only last year, I think it is fair to say that government's achievements to date will not be forgotten soon. At the same time, it cannot be denied that we still have a long way to go with respect to the implementation of our multilingual policy, more importantly, the development of the previously marginalized languages.
I am sure you will agree with me when I say that in order to know where we are going, we need to know where we are coming from. This is why we need to be reminded that the African languages' biggest problem stems from the days of colonialism and the ill-conceived idea that African languages were inferior to colonial languages and unfit for any functional role in business or politics. It is unfortunate that many Africans also believed this myth and perpetuated it. Of course, the colonisers took no steps to remedy what they considered the inferiority of the African languages, and as some of them actually had an agenda to suppress the speakers of the language, this is hardly surprising.
We have lived with this legacy for a very long time. Today we still talk about the French-speaking parts of Africa, often referred to as Francophone Africa, the English-speaking parts, or Anglophone Africa, and the former Portuguese colonies like Angola and Mozambique.
The French, in particular, made tireless efforts to assimilate the Africans in the former French colonies. They did their best to make the Africans they colonised value French to the detriment of their own indigenous languages, and the same was more or less true for other regions. It is sad, but the Africans did little to resist, and unwittingly began to measure their worth according to their proficiency in colonial languages.
Colonial domination made us feel that way. Our languages were not valued. Jobs were available only to those who expressed themselves well in colonial languages. As official languages, French, English and Portuguese were the only languages used in government, courts, churches and businesses. Everybody strived, mostly in vain to emulate their colonisers.
Although the ambition to speak a colonial language like a native speaker was regarded as normal, strangely enough very few people believed that non-mother-tongue speakers could ever succeed in achieving this ambition. Needless to say, Africans did not worry about losing their Africanness in the process of trying but, as one's culture is embedded in one's language, it was impossible for them to compromise their languages and still keep their cultural roots intact.
The situation got worse and worse, and continued even after countries had won their freedom, but eventually Africans began to realize that giving foreign languages unfair prominence was keeping the majority of citizens, especially the uneducated, in ignorance about modern practices and their own countries. Perhaps the injustice of this situation was the reality that got African intellectuals taking the role of indigenous languages in the development of Africa seriously.
Today Africans are unanimous in claiming that in Africa development cannot take place without African languages. Let me quote a passage written by Professor Adama Semassekou, the President of the African Academy of Languages:
Four decades after the political 'independences' however, the situation of African languages keeps on widening inequalities in the fields of science, techniques, and technology. This imbalance between official languages, inherited from colonialisation, and African languages, far from facilitating a better sharing of modern knowledge and practices, jeopardizes any significant involvement of our populations in decision making on the one hand, and in the improvement of their living conditions on the other. Therefore, our commitment to the ideals of the OAU, the pressing call of our people for a quick and more involving access to writing and true democracy, the requirements of an everlasting sub-regional and regional stability, have imposed upon us the creation of an instrument for the development of our languages, likely to facilitate and reinforce linguistic co-operation between African states and, moreover, to promote the harmonization and the actual implementation of language policies conform to the aspirations of our working populations."
From its birth in 1994, the new, democratic South African government took a positive stance in supporting the development of our previously marginalized languages. Section 6(1) of our national Constitution provides for 11 official languages, and section 6(2) emphasizes the state's responsibility to take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and advance the use of the indigenous official languages.
In this sense, government has shown beyond any doubt that South Africa is now a free and democratic country, and it is in this spirit that all our people are protected under the Bill of Rights. Respecting people's rights means respecting everything that belongs to them. Over and above its communicative function, language signifies a person's identity and cultural values, and it is for this reason that language rights are so important.
Today we have come together to witness the launch of these three important initiatives that I mentioned earlier on, namely, the Bursary Scheme, establishment of LRDCs and HLT initiative. I would like to state that it is the government's goal to have all the official languages of South Africa adequately developed in order to serve the complex and diverse requirements of modern communication. The Human Language Technologies initiative, for example, will play a critical role in advancing the African languages at a technological level so that they are able to meet these requirements. To this end, the Department of Arts and Culture has established its Human Language Technologies Unit, which will work towards establishing a National Facility for Human Language Technologies within a period of five years. The purpose of the HLT unit is to coordinate the work that is done in terms of developing and managing reusable electronic language and speech resources in all the official languages of South Africa.
Earlier on I mentioned the implementation of the National Language Policy and the development of the previously marginalized languages. Developing a language requires the use of realistic strategies, and a proper plan of action with clear goals and objectives. When one thinks about developing languages one has to think about research, which provides the backbone of all language development strategies. It is for this reason that we have decided to establish Language Research and Development Centres and to link them with academic institutions. The mandates of these Centres are terminology development, literature development and research, and language planning research. More importantly, however, these Centres will ensure that the indigenous languages are used as languages of business, politics, research and government throughout South Africa, as they will encourage the use of these languages by communities, institutions of learning and government. One of the most important indirect benefits of these Centres will be their ability to change deep-rooted attitudes towards indigenous languages - attitudes that reinforce both the perception and the practice of inequality that has resulted from the lack of economic value attached to these languages.
In order to boost capacity for the implementation of the National Language Policy, the Department has set up a bursary scheme for postgraduate studies in selected language fields at various universities. The focus areas of the bursary scheme are Translation and Editing, Interpreting, Terminology Development, Language Planning and Human Language Technologies. One can say that the government has finally put its money where its mouth is as far as the language policy is concerned. For the next three years, beginning in 2004, the Department of Arts and Culture will spend R9 million on this bursary scheme.
I would like to add that the Language Bursary Scheme is being launched at a very crucial time in South Africa, when the numbers of students pursuing language studies at university level are on the decrease. We hope that this positive step will prove once and for all that the government is sincere in its intention to improve the status of the indigenous languages.
Let me take the opportunity to congratulate the universities that have the honour of hosting the Language Research and Development Centres and those that have been selected to offer courses for the bursary scheme. It is important for us as government to have collaborative partnerships with you since you have the research capacity that is needed, especially in the priority focus areas. I would also like to point out that we have selected only a few of the institutions because this is only a pilot for the first three years. The aim is for us to expand the scheme for more people to benefit. Last, but not least, I wish to congratulate the bursary recipients. All applications went through a rigorous screening process, and those who have been awarded bursaries deserve them.
Amade ngawetyala!
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Minerals and Energy
30 March 2004
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