ANDILE NDLOVU: What if isiZulu became our only official language?
'My nephew finds it strange that his isiZulu teacher is an Indian woman who cannot pronounce some of the simplest phrases'
Apologies if some people choke on their coffee at the following suggestion, but what if we got real and made the country’s most widely spoken language, isiZulu, our official language? Granted, this will appear disingenuous coming from a man whose mother tongue is isiZulu and whose people are perpetually accused of being too stubborn to open themselves up to learning another language. We have always touted ourselves as being a proud people — what if we put that into action and changed the language policy?What if we decided that we didn’t mind slipping down the myriad global lists that look at English proficiency? What if, like the Kenyans with Swahili and English, the government made isiZulu the primary medium, with English and perhaps Afrikaans? My nephew finds it strange that his isiZulu teacher is an Indian woman who cannot pronounce some of the simplest phrases. Now, imagine if this teacher were proficient in isiZulu, what it would do for her relationship with her pupils, for my ...
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