The Big Read: The 'bittereinders' of taal

One place in which to observe Thabo Mbeki's "two nations" thesis is in the language debates stalking the former white Afrikaans universities.

These debates are discussing the future of Afrikaans as a language of instruction on university campuses.

In one corner of South Africa there is deep and anxious groaning about the fate of the taal. If you stick your head into that beehive, you could be forgiven for thinking that the declining presence of Afrikaans as a language of instruction on the former white Afrikaans campuses represents nothing less than an existential threat to the volk itself. Of course this is nonsense, but you would not know that from attending a Taalfees, where deeply emotional attachments to Afrikaans are expressed in fatalistic language. "Even my chickens would crow me awake in Afrikaans every morning," ventured one romantic at a recent Woordfees gathering.

In a perfect world, all official languages would enjoy status as languages of schools and universities. Ours is not a perfect world, for neither the resources available, nor the history behind us and the politics hanging over us make such an outcome possible.

Yet you will not find any such deep anxiety about indigenous languages in the other corners of South Africa. It simply is not important.

Other South Africans also love their languages; but they don't fall apart at the cultural seams because it is not taught in higher education. So why are Afrikaans taalstryders taking universities to court and attacking university academics and leaders with a different view?

If this was a debate about language preferences on campuses, the problem would be solved on pragmatic grounds. English is the common language of virtually all South Africa's tertiary students, regardless of levels of competence gained from the school environment. So teach in the language. It costs less on cash-strapped campuses, especially in this "fees-must-fall" era.

A common language helps to break down racial and ethnic divisions since all students receive instructions in the same classrooms. And everyone is prepared for participation in a global economy through the facility of a travelling language. End of story, you would think.

Here's the problem. For conservative white speakers of the taal, Afrikaans is not only a language of culture and identity, but also of power.

Some have never got over the fact that Afrikaans is no longer a dominant language of our public institutions. Others still struggle with memory - the Anglo-Boer War enemy was not only The English, it was English. Those emotions run very deep and you do not travel far in provinces like the Free State without encountering memorials to ensure you do not forget the fact.

Afrikaans is not simply another language of instruction; it is the very lifeblood of conservative white Afrikaans culture and any threat to the language, real and imagined, is a threat to memory, identity and the very meaning of life in post-apartheid South Africa. That is why the language battle raging on some campuses is so fierce.

Fortunately, this is a generational problem that will ease off within less than a decade. Increasing numbers of white Afrikaans students are less moored to the past as an ideological project and more concerned about their career mobility in a global economy. Within this same period of time Afrikaans will no longer be a mainstream language of instruction on any South African campus.

Of course such a transition will take slightly longer at Stellenbosch University, given its undergraduate student demographics. On all the old campuses there will always be Afrikaans classes in professional degrees like teacher education and theology; and staff on these campuses will still speak, compose and write in the language.

Afrikaans continues to thrive in the broader society, as more than one student of public culture has attested - in part because of the diminishing presence of Afrikaans on the older campuses. That is good for our collective culture and identities as South Africans. I love Afrikaans. I read Afrikaans books, I recently wrote a book in Afrikaans and, whenever I get a chance, I enjoy engaging friends in this beautiful language.

But I distance myself from those who see Afrikaans as a battlefield for wars long past or for emboldening racial identities in a post-apartheid world. Those virulent taalstryders are the people who constitute the real threat to the future of Afrikaans. It is just a pity they cannot see it.