ENGLISH IN SOUTH AFRICA – A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD (4)

The South African constitution states that all eleven official languages must ‘enjoy parity of esteem and must be treated equitably’. Equity refers to fairness and impartiality, and the English Academy of South Africa has a very valid point that this is not the same as calling for equal use (Venter Handout p. 1). In reality, English is still the most widely-used language across the nation, and is the language of parliament and general administration. The problem with this situation is that English holds a possible threat to the ten other official languages of the country.