Dudu Zuma slammed for struggling to speak isiZulu, years after moving to SA

Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, daughter of MK party leader Jacob Zuma, has yet again been criticised for her inability to speak her father's native language, isiZulu.

In a viral video, Zuma-Sambudla recently addressed MK Party supporters in Ulundi, KwaZulu-Natal, and apologised for not being able to address them in Zulu. She spoke English.

“I am sorry, I can't speak isiZulu. I am a victim of apartheid, so this is one of the things that happens. We don't get to grow up in South Africa and learn our mother tongue, but I'm trying; I'm learning,” Zuma-Sambudla said.

Her struggle to speak the language has been in the spotlight since joining MK, which has large following in KZN which is dominated by Zulu speaking people. 

She was born and raised in Mozambique, where she and her twin brother Duduzane Zuma lived during the apartheid years. They were taught mainly in Portuguese while in Mozambique. They have been living in South Africa for more than 25 years. 

This is not the first time she has been criticised for not speaking her father's language. In May, she required a translator to speak to supporters during an election campaign event.

Social media users argued that non-South Africans can become fluent in vernacular languages after just a few years in the country and accused her of being ignorant and lacking the desire to learn.

They made an example of an American woman, Elizabeth Matlou, who went viral recently after a video of her delivering a speech in her husband Hendrick Matlou's native language, Sepedi, at their wedding.