FRANCOIS SMITH | Sjoe, it’s been a trek: Afrikaans as an official language turns 100
1925 legislation compelled Afrikaans to rapidly develop in areas such as orthography, terminology and grammatical consistency
14 May 2025 - 04:30
On May 8 1925, the writer CJ Langenhoven introduced a bill in the parliament of the then Union of South Africa that led to Afrikaans being recognised as one of the country’s official languages, alongside English. It is this historic moment that marks the centenary being celebrated today. However, the language itself predates its official status by centuries...
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