New SA has done little to promote mother tongues

M Ncwadi: Truth be told, the democratic South Africa has done very little - besides declaring all languages official - to promote usage of other languages, other than English and Afrikaans.

Now - just like during apartheid - English and Afrikaans are the national languages of success, social progress and aspiration. The other nine languages have little significance beyond being used for chit-chatting.

I know this does sound like self-loathing. But it is a scary dose of reality that most people who speak neither English nor Afrikaans face daily.

Unless one thinks, dreams and speaks one of the two languages, he/she is doomed never to achieve any modicum of success.

The way we communicate may be a symptom of socialisation through colonisation, as Ntate Mosibudi Mangena suggested in "Sweep colonial cobwebs from your identity" (August 15). But for me, what we have become - more so after 1994 - also points to a new reality. Thus far, we are nothing more than political caretakers of this land.

We are bound by the constitution to ask for permission - from others - to exist and pursue economic and social policies that can truly emancipate us from the stranglehold of the apartheid legacy. We do not own anything of substantial economic value - land, mineral resources and means of production - to declare ourselves in charge of our destiny.

Thus, we must - as a matter of necessity and survival - pander to the dictates of the tiny minority of people and companies that truly govern South Africa through control of everything that matters for our future survival as a nation. You cannot negotiate and secure a black economic empowerment deal in isiXhosa. Can you?

Our existence as a people is awash with ironies, starting with our identity. Other nations, be it Spanish or Germans, may be Christians but they do not give their children names of Biblical characters. We do, and we call them Christian names.

Even though the Bible has been translated into our own languages, we insist that these Christian names should be in English and Afrikaans.

Think of names like Mary and Johannes, to name just two.

We hate our African hair. So much so, we wear synthetic threads made from oil and gladly call it human hair. We claim that education is our priority then turn around and give most of our children substandard education taught by uncommitted and underpaid teachers. We are happy to do this because our white countrymen and women will gladly provide our own children with quality education, as long as we pay them enough to do so.

We celebrate mediocrity. We are more than happy to pay construction companies to build and deliver - on time - world-class stadiums and infrastructure to impress foreign visitors.

But, where our flesh and blood is concerned, we are happy to pay companies substantial sums of money to build substandard RDP houses and infrastructure.

We claim to be in charge. How can we be, when we cannot produce even the food we eat?

In the Sunday Times, two weeks ago, reporter Simpiwe Piliso correctly mentioned that less than 1000 farms produce 85% of all food on the shelves of retail supermarkets in South Africa, "Merger to boost E Cape agriculture" (August 8). I should add that our white counterparts own all these farms.

I rest my case.