I read the article "War of words goes to court" (August 19) about Cornelius Lourens, who believes that all 11 official languages should be used equally in the government sector.
That sounds good and worthy of support, but how feasible is it?
Imagine a situation where the government printing works have to print all documents in all 11 languages. Where all State Gazettes and promulgations have to be published in 11 languages. Tribunals sit and record proceedings in these languages. It is devoid of sense.
Yes, there is a constitutional obligation to promote all official languages on the part of the government, but English is the language of both public and private business.
Yes, we all applaud the effort to create permanent employment, but we must also guard against over-expenditure of public funds.
I am sure if this were the case already, Lourens would be one of those who would be criticising the government for wasteful and fruitless expenditure.
Subjectively, one can then see that this is one of the rightwingers' ploys to promote Afrikaans and their colonial course through the back door.
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