SA has a long history of the imposition of colonial languages on African people. The language question is what triggered the country’s biggest student-led protest in June 1976.
It is through the youth of that period, 1976, that we are reminded every year that language is more than words; it is the first step towards self-liberation and emancipation. Therefore, one cannot and should not make the mistake of celebrating the month of June without an understanding of the significance of the language matter — a fight for equality and rehumanisation through education.
In 1974, the apartheid government began by issuing the Afrikaans Medium Decree, a law that forced the use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in black schools.
Its effect was to intentionally disconnect African people from themselves and their memory before being colonised. One would ask why does it matter which language is used as a medium of instruction? And why would language cause a bunch of students to be angered for being taught in another language?
These questions can simply be answered by making reference to the late decolonial scholar, Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s philosophy on language. He referred to language as a “naming system” and argued that language is deeply embedded to one’s identity and how a person makes sense of the world, how to connect with the world and how we position ourselves in that world.
Language is what socialises a person into who they end up becoming. Therefore, being denied the right to use one’s language does not only have an alienating effect on a person but promotes the continuation of oppression of people based on their race and culture.
Today’s South African youth live in a democracy but many still face structural barriers to quality education. The post-apartheid youth have inherited both the legacy of the 1976 generation and the responsibility to carry it forward. Encouragingly, some are stepping up. They are taking action to address gaps in the education system and fight the inequalities that persist.
One example, is TAQA , an organisation formed by four young people who identified a gap in public education after the 2030 Reading Panel Report revealed that most grade 4 pupils cannot read for meaning.
These young people, with their organisation, TAQA, have the goal of tackling the Early Childhood Development (ECD) and illiteracy crisis in the country. They mobilised themselves and came up with an innovative solution for creating an online library which could possibly benefit children from previously disadvantaged communities.
The library provides children with easy access to books written in all 11 official languages; ensuring that children from disadvantaged backgrounds have access to reading material in their mother tongue and access to technology to keep up with the digital era.
TAQA further went on to host two major events centred around Youth Month. The first, a “Reading for Meaning” day, was held in Langa, Cape Town, in partnership with youth-led organisations like UBUMBO and Vusa Academy. The second was a Youth Day dialogue titled “Language Our Freedom” at the University of the Western Cape, reflecting on what the 1976 generation fought for: the right to speak, learn and be educated in one’s mother tongue.
These initiatives by TAQA inculcate some of the important aspects of the decolonial project. Young people taking such an initiative is evidence that youth agency to reclaim their history, knowledge and power is alive and well and that the struggle for an inclusive, empowering education system continues.
Sondlo is a PhD sociology candidate at Nelson Mandela University.