Talking about language in a colonial tongue
22 September 2024 - 00:00
The constitution opens with the words, “We, the people of South Africa, recognise the injustices of the past.” One of the most profound of these is the suppression of African languages. Instead, English, privileged by the imperialism-driven power of primary colonialism, and Afrikaans, privileged by apartheid as a (secondary) colonialism of a special type, were institutionalised as the doorways to knowledge, science, commerce and industry. ..
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