JUNE 16 | Youth of ’76 fought hard for indigenous languages, not English

Many of those who were teenagers during the 1976 student upheavals are the first generation of African adults to raise children who cannot speak their own mother tongues.  

The trend to speak mostly English, and now Chinese, has grown worse as we mark the 47th anniversary of the student uprising and 29 years of democracy.

When we fought apartheid, we were clear on our demand to be taught in our indigenous languages. Much as we were not too sure what we wanted to unleash through indigenous African languages as medium of instruction, we wanted to take our future and destiny into our own hands.  

There was neither Nelson Mandela nor Robert Sobukwe to define for us the intuitive connection between language, intelligence and freedom. Perhaps after 47 years, the time has come for us to ask: what kind of world have children of 1976 – who fought for the central role of African languages in education – created for their own children?  

The situation of the last 29 years shows that, increasingly, the children of the children of 1976 are naïve, orphaned and going to white schools (sic). They attend schools where English or Afrikaans is the medium of instruction and indigenous Africans do not feature in any significant way as part of the curriculum. In addition, it is compulsory to pass Afrikaans. If not, you fail.

In fact, in many of these schools, African teachers are absent because it is claimed they cannot be found. Thus it is Indians, coloureds and whites who teach African children indigenous languages. The new SA is a confusing, a changing world, which continues to celebrate the anniversary of June 16 – now known as Youth Day – as a significant day that marked a radical change in the course of history which culminated in democracy. But we find that their parents – who were in the forefront of the 1976 Struggle – have abandoned their children and left them vulnerable. Instead, their parents are preoccupied with “making it” in a world driven by corruption, misgovernance, status, money and a suburban address in the name of success.  

The youth of 1976 – now in their 50s, 60s and 70s – are now caught in middle age angst that afflicts those who are the establishment and are now only interested in providing a better quality of life for their offspring and, above all, saving their pension. As a result, their children are left to tread carefully in a deceptively normal society where they are not allowed or encouraged to speak their indigenous African languages. In the suburbs, where those parents have retreated to, they are expected to be articulate in English, which is, presumably, a sign of intelligence and social status.  

But deep down in their souls, the youth of 1976 know this is wrong. This is not what the fight against Afrikaans was meant to deliver: a new generation of African children who cannot speak their mother tongue. As it is, the children are struggling to pronounce African names and those who manage, always, do it with an English intonation. In fact, African mothers and fathers are very proud today that their children cannot communicate with their grandparents because of the language barrier.  

Of course, in the 1976 upheaval, the children’s hearts burned with the intensity to do away with Afrikaans. But what has happened in the last 47 years is that – despite an official government policy to promote African languages – they do not want to their children to be taught in any of the indigenous African languages.

It is claimed that this would close doors to learning and opportunity. Sadly, SA is now part of globalisation that, apparently, has no place for indigenous languages. As a result, today there are far too few of Africans in the 21st Century – especially in the middle class – that are articulate in a mother tongue. Yes, we can hear and understand when fellow Africans speak, but in the urban population that is growing every day, there seems to be less and less people who can finish a conversation in an African language without putting in some English words. The African language stations at SABC provide a good example. Current affairs shows are, mostly, conducted in English. Many government ministers, MECs and senior officials do not speak in indigenous languages.  

Ironically, the fire and spirit of generation of 1976 is fading fast as the former youngsters grow older. But it is appropriate to remind them to grapple with the question: what is it exactly that we were prepared to lay down our lives for, when our children are neither taught nor speak African languages?  

In any case, what were we fighting for if we are going to raise children who have no sense of what being an African language speaker means? Language is the carrier of a people’s culture. It is the essence that defines identity. So, if you cannot speak an African language are you still an African? Maybe. Yes. No.  

In today’s society, no one can destroy the fascination people have with children who speak English all the time. Ironically, it is mistaken for a mark of intelligence at the expense of indigenous languages. There is no doubt that the children of the children of 1976 are struggling to forge an emotional connection with family and relatives and thus an allegiance with African people in general.

To a large extent, they have been recreated in the image of the neo-colonialists. There is something that alienates an individual when they cannot connect with a community at the level of language. It would seem the children of 1976 will need to seek intellectual clarity and vision on how to connect what is happening today to what they struggled for.

Those who have been lucky and privileged to rise to political leadership positions communicate with the people in English, most of the time. As a result, there is a breakdown of communication with the spirit world because of language barriers.

After 47 years the children of the 1976 revolution must take stock to determine whether contemporary developments are what they sacrificed for. They must answer if voting once every five years is enough. Alas that their own children, increasingly, neither understand what 1976 was about nor connect it to the Struggle for education in indigenous languages. 

• Memela is a writer, journalist and cultural critic.