The language of the people

 

Apartheid had a place because there was a need to oppose a system of discrimination and oppression. If we look back further to when our ancestors came here as slaves and political prisoners, there was the mentality of opposition. Having been brought here by the Dutch, Afrikaans became a language as our forefathers defied the colonialist oppressive Dutch.

As time passed and we reached the mid twentieth century, there was this inclination to adopt the English language, the language of the other coloniser. This happened for a few reasons, one of which is that the ruling class adopted Afrikaans as their language. Secondly, English was seen as the universal language and the queen's language. Forgotten was the fact that Afrikaans was the language of defiance. In fact, those who now are known as Afrikaners understood that having your own language was an important cultural element. Few speak Afrikaans today, especially the younger generation. With that we gave up part of our identity of which part was that of resistance to oppression and injustice. While you can cite many other reasons for our decline and virtual disintegration as a cultural group, language certainly had its role to play. Today, we have integrated into a society to the extent that many of our principles have fallen by the wayside as we adopted concepts foreign even to our beliefs.

Shall I call upon my people to return to their roots and rather be slaves physically chained, than chained to ideologies and cultures that mean us only harm.

 

Ons sal mos lankal opgestaan it tien die goewerment met alles wat aangaan soes crime en die hoë cost of living. Ja, ons mieks somma oek die tale want os is vannie kaap.

 

 

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Authentic us

Captivity is a lonely place. The lonely place is worse if there is no willingness to turn back unless you believe that you deserve to be captured or you are unaware that you are captured. Bear with me and I will explain.

History tells us that there were two colonisers in the cape since the seventeenth century. Both these colonisers brought slaves and labourers to the shores of Africa and subjugated the indigenous people. The early “Cape Malays” rejected their oppression and refused to speak the language of the oppressor, viz Dutch.  Afrikaans was a language that was in defiance of the colonisers. As much as our Afrikaans, which some now call afrikaaps, is still spoken, there was a readiness and eagerness to adopt the language of the second coloniser, specifically in the twentieth century. The ruling class during the apartheid years also successfully took Afrikaans as their language. Language forms a big part of culture and identity. Without our own language, our people readily became captives of the oppressor. With their language, they also introduced us to their schools and their system of education. You will ask “what is wrong with that?” and the answer is simple. We think and talk like them. The solutions we seek is from what they have taught us. Nothing comes from us, from our background and there is a straying from our roots and even faith. Our faith is the cornerstone of our culture, yet our thinking is eroding that too. Were it to be said that the Muslims from Cape Town can make a difference en masse, then clearly it will be hard to draw them in one single direction. Now people will think differently, but the core will be the same. We have bathed in the system of the oppressor and since when is benevolence used to describe an oppressor. But it seems that you are grateful. We cannot turn the clock back but, most importantly, we must come to the realisation that we have been captured and seek to regain something of our identity.

The little we have we must cling onto it. Our faith must be strengthened by giving greater attention to the study and implementation of religion. The smaller things must not easily fall by the wayside, things like the cuisine that is synonymous with us culturally, and the little bit of our Afrikaans. Those who speak other languages, other than the oppressor’s language, must reclaim that and make it common amongst the people. When there is a common cause, purpose, goal then progress is easier. The right culture is strong and protects every member of that group.

 

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Picture courtesy https://www.sahistory.org.za