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South African language distribution

Distribution of South African official languages

South Africa recognises eleven official languages (plus South African Sign Language since 2023), but in practice English and Afrikaans are the primary languages used, and to a somewhat lesser extent isiZulu and isiXhosa. For most of South Africa's history, only English and Afrikaans were official languages; the nine major indigenous languages (spoken by about 67% of the population) gained equal status only after 1994. Despite constitutional guarantees, analysis note that “indigenous African languages are marginalised despite having been elevated to official languages”. Post-1994 policy still favours English (and to some extent Afrikaans) as the working languages of government and education, relegating others largely to symbolic roles.

The origins of this imbalance lie in colonial and apartheid language policy. Under British rule (after 1814) English became the language of administration, schooling and business, while Dutch (Afrikaans) was only made co-official in 1925. Afrikaans itself emerged as the second official language after a lengthy struggle by Boer descendants. Until 1994, no South African indigenous language was official at the national level. Apartheid entrenched this order: the 1953 Bantu Education Act required black African schooling in vernaculars and Afrikaans, vastly limiting English instruction. This policy provoked resistance, most famously the 1976 Soweto uprising, when black students protested being forced to learn in Afrikaans. In the so-called Bantustan “homelands,” local African languages gained nominal official status (usually alongside English), but at the national level Afrikaans and English dominated government, justice and higher education.

Historical background

British and Afrikaner rule (1820–1990). Under British colonialism English was imposed as the medium of government and education. During the Union of South Africa (1910) Dutch was equal to English, but in 1925 Afrikaans replaced Dutch as the second official language. Afrikaner nationalism then used language as a tool of power. Apartheid-era “Bantu Education” policy prescribed mother-tongue instruction for Africans in primary grades (often without proper resources) and mandated Afrikaans in secondary schooling. Learners were denied English after Grade 6, and in 1974 authorities ordered that Afrikaans be used as a medium. This decision triggered the 1976 Soweto protests, after which nearly all Black school boards switched to English instruction. Homelands: Some African languages (e.g. Sesotho, Tswana, Venda) became official in the homelands created for different ethnic groups, but these were segregated territories with weak institutions, so the effect on status was limited. In practice, language divisions reinforced apartheid hierarchy: English and Afrikaans signified privilege, while African languages remained associated with inferior schools and low-status jobs.

End of apartheid (1990–1994). As apartheid fell, language issues became prominent symbols of past injustices and future equality. Afrikaners feared losing Afrikaans; Black activists demanded recognition of African languages. Nevertheless, political agreement preserved English (to ensure a common medium) and recognised Afrikaans, and in 1994 the interim government retained these two as working languages. The new 1996 Constitution radically changed the framework by listing all nine major African languages (isiZulu, isiXhosa, Sepedi, Setswana, Sesotho, Xitsonga, siSwati, Tshivenda, isiNdebele) plus Afrikaans and English as official. Section 6 of the Constitution explicitly requires that “all official languages must enjoy parity of esteem” and that “practical and positive measures” be taken to advance historically marginalized languages. This legal change was a momentous symbolic victory for indigenous languages, but it also posed practical challenges: the country had no experience or infrastructure for truly treating eleven languages equally in all domains.

Legal and constitutional framework

South Africa’s language laws formally guarantee multilingualism but leave many decisions to government policy. In practice, English (and often Afrikaans) serve as the default working languages of government, with African languages - chiefly isiZulu and isiXhosa - used in selected provinces and on a rotational basis in Parliament and courts. Constitution: Section 6 recognises 11 official languages and mandates that government promote them. In particular, section 6(2) requires “practical and positive measures” to uplift indigenous languages, while section 6(3)(a) obliges national and provincial governments to use at least two official languages each. In practice this has meant English plus one or two others in legislation or document. The Constitution allows anyone to use any official language in Parliament or in court (interpreters must be made available), but it does not fix which languages are used; this has left English dominant in these forums.

PanSALB (1995). To put the constitutional mandate into action, Parliament enacted the Pan South African Language Board Act in 1995. This created the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB), whose mission is to “achieve respect, adequate protection and furtherance” of all official languages, and especially to develop those “which in the past did not enjoy full recognition”. Its objects include “the equal use and enjoyment of all the official South African languages” and fostering respect for all languages, official or not. PanSALB has advisory status and implements programs (such as standardizing spelling, training interpreters, awarding grants for language projects), but its effectiveness has been limited by underfunding and low political clout.

Use of Official Languages Act (2012). This law requires every national department to adopt a language policy using at least three official languages. It reiterates that government must promote “parity of esteem and equitable treatment” for all official languages. Each department must form a language unit to advise and report on compliance. The Act’s preamble explicitly acknowledges the Constitution’s goals (ensuring 11 official languages and elevating those of “diminished use and status”). While this law set up a framework, audits by watchdogs have found uneven implementation: many offices still operate mainly in English, and reports on language use are not always submitted.

Other laws and policies. Education law and provincial statutes also affect language use. The 2002 Promotion of Indigenous Languages Act (later replaced by regulations) aimed to further protect languages, and the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act (2024) (known as the BELA Act) targets schooling language policy (see below). Provinces may pass their own language legislation: for example, Western Cape’s Language Act (2012) recognises Afrikaans, English and isiXhosa and requires departmental translation into those languages. In 2017 the Free State passed a law making Sesotho and Afrikaans its working languages (with required translation into Sesotho). These examples show how, within the national framework, subnational governments typically select a few languages relevant to their populations rather than all 11.

Domains of marginalisation

Education

Language use in schools is a primary battleground of marginalisation. The official Language-in-Education Policy (LiEP) encourages mother-tongue instruction in early grades and bilingual education, but implementation has lagged. In practice, many black African learners are taught in a South African language only up to Grade 3, then switched to English from Grade 4 onward – a practice that predates apartheid and has persisted since. A UCT study notes: “This enforced switch to English medium in Grade 4… has continued for 30 years post-apartheid, even though… the LiEP (1997) promotes bilingual and multilingual education”. The new 2024 BELA Act seeks to change this by allowing learners to continue studying in South African languages beyond Grade 3, and by requiring all schools to develop multilingual policies. Proponents call this a “groundbreaking step” toward the country’s “long-overdue commitment to multilingual education”.

In many schools, however, resources remain scant. Textbooks and trained teachers for African languages are inadequate. It has been observed that English and Afrikaans teachers usually receive training in their own languages, whereas teachers of African languages are often trained in English. This imbalance hampers quality instruction. Furthermore, education inspectors have found that schools still sometimes discriminate by language; for example, some feeder schools or provinces show preference for Afrikaans or English, leading to admission disputes. The BELA Act explicitly empowers authorities to intervene if language policy is used to exclude students, reflecting concerns about “schools using language to racially exclude children”.

At tertiary level, English overwhelmingly dominates. Universities generally lecture and assess in English, with only a few programs in Afrikaans and almost none in African languages. According to language planners, “English has become the institutionalised medium of instruction in higher education,” which undermines any gains from multilingual schooling. For example, the University of the Western Cape and other Eastern Cape institutions have long tried to expand isiXhosa instruction, but they struggle against resource constraints and the expectation of English-medium courses. In short, while all official languages can be taught as subjects or home-language options in principle, only English (and in some areas Afrikaans) dominate actual instruction. A study of post-1994 policy warns that, to date, “very little has been done countrywide to advance [the African languages] as languages of teaching and learning”.

Government and legal system

The judiciary and legislature are legally open to all official languages, but default to English in practice, with Afrikaans second and one indigenous language - typically isiZulu or isiXhosa. Section 6(3) of the Constitution requires parliaments and courts to use “at least two” official languages. In practice the national Parliament and provincial legislatures always use English plus one other language, rotating among the remaining ten. For example, a bill or speech will typically be read in English and simultaneously translated into, say, isiZulu or Afrikaans. Members of Parliament may speak any official language in debates, and courts must in principle allow witnesses to use their home language with an interpreter. However, analysts note that English is “always used in legislation” and remains the working language of government, with another language only added “on a rotational basis”. This system inherently limits the use of any single African language in lawmaking or the courts, since only a couple can be accommodated at a time.

Administratively, English (and Afrikaans) still prevail. National government notices, websites and major speeches (like the Budget speech) are issued in English and sometimes Afrikaans, with few other languages offered except in summary form. A 2023 analysis observed that post-1994 legislation “created in effect a new language hierarchy” where “English (and sometimes even Afrikaans)” are the de facto working languages, while all other official languages “remain largely symbolic”. Surprisingly, remnants of the old order persist: in the civil service (the administrative domain), government departments often still operate in both English and Afrikaans, even though the legislative and judicial branches no longer do so. Thus, an Afrikaans speaker may navigate bureaucracy reasonably well in some provinces, whereas a speaker of Venda or Ndebele will rarely find that language used. Importantly, courts and public services are required to provide interpreters if a person cannot speak English or Afrikaans, but in practice such services are uneven (for example, some rural magistrates’ courts have no translators for Tsonga or Swati).

Provinces and municipalities vary widely. Some have strong language policies: for example, the Western Cape officially uses Afrikaans, English and isiXhosa, and requires translation of departmental materials into all three. The Free State has a similar arrangement with Sesotho and Afrikaans. Other provinces (e.g. Limpopo or KwaZulu-Natal) declare five or six official languages but still function primarily in English, with occasional Xitsonga or Zulu in education and signage. Municipal service centres are legally supposed to serve citizens in their home languages, but audits by the human-rights commission found that many local governments default to English, leaving Xhosa, Pedi, Tswana, and other speakers at a disadvantage.

Media and digital platforms

In print, broadcast and online media, English again dominates. A survey of South African newspapers and radio reported that “English media is by far the most dominant, Afrikaans a distant second and Zulu a minor third”. The national broadcaster SABC has eleven radio stations (one for each official language) plus one for South African Sign Language, but only a few African-language stations rival the commercial English/Afrikaans stations. For example, isiZulu-language Ukhozi FM is the country’s largest radio station (over 7 million listeners) and has a major online presence, and daily newspapers like Isolezwe (Zulu) and Die Son (Afrikaans) have large circulations. However, other languages are underrepresented: until recently there were no major newspapers in Sesotho or Tshivenda, and no Afrikaans-language TV news besides SABCs own bulletin. One journalist observed in 2015 that there are actually fewer publications in African languages now than under apartheid, despite the obvious need to serve all language communities. Online media tend to follow the same pattern: most news websites are in English or Afrikaans, and most social-media content and software defaults to those languages. Tech companies are only beginning to add African languages – for example, Google Translate now supports Zulu, Xhosa and a few others – but dozens of languages remain unsupported, hindering digital inclusion.

Socioeconomic and cultural impacts

The marginalisation of languages has real consequences. Education and employment outcomes tend to align with language privilege. Learners taught mainly in a second language often perform worse: research notes a correlation between using a colonial language in school and “poor educational outcomes”. Mother-tongue instruction, by contrast, improves understanding and retention. The long-standing deficit of quality schooling in many African languages contributes to lower literacy and skills among first-language speakers of Zulu, Xhosa and others, compared to those schooled in English. This, in turn, perpetuates inequality: as one analysis warns, continued “under-usage of indigenous languages in higher domains…entrenches structural linguicism” that advantages the languages of the socioeconomically dominant groups.

Culturally, the sidelining of a language can erode heritage and identity. Language is “central to identity” and dignity. When children are forced to abandon their home language at school, they may lose connection to family traditions, literature and oral history. Indeed, apartheid-era language policy left a stigma: African languages were once officially associated with “subnormality” and backwardness, an attitude whose remnants still cause some speakers (especially in professional settings) to feel ashamed of their mother tongue. Conversely, languages that flourish carry status: English proficiency is often seen as a ticket to economic opportunity, reinforcing its dominance. Efforts to revoke or restrict language rights (such as eliminating school programs in Afrikaans) can trigger sharp reactions because people view language as part of their cultural group. For example, some Afrikaner groups have protested recent policies as threats to their community, even though current census data show Afrikaans speakers are now majority Black and Coloured.

For deaf and minority-language communities, inclusion remains fraught. South African Sign Language (SASL) was finally recognised in 2023 as an official language, fulfilling a long-standing demand. Still, deaf students and patients often lack qualified interpreters, and SASL content online or on TV is minimal. Similarly, the ten Khoisan languages (Khoekhoegowab, !Xun, etc.) were given official status in 1996 but have virtually no presence in media or schooling beyond rudimentary lexicons. Many San youth campaigns and NGOs now run language classes (sometimes with PanSALB support), but these tongues are critically endangered.

Efforts toward revitalisation and equity

Government bodies and civil society have launched various initiatives to uplift marginalised languages. The Pan South African Language Board organises awareness campaigns and funds development projects. For example, PanSALB’s 2025 programs included training municipal staff in basic SASL to improve public services and celebrating linguistic diversity days. PanSALB also maintains committees for each official language, promotes literature and has worked (in partnership with universities) on creating terminology in science and law for African languages. On the policy side, the Use of Official Languages Act (2012) and the BELA Act mark legislative progress, even if full implementation is pending. The BELA Act, in particular, is seen by scholars as a “long-overdue milestone” that could accelerate the development of African languages in schools. The ANC-led government has also established a National Language Policy Framework (2003, revised 2016) aiming to encourage multilingualism, and it mandates that major events (like the State of the Nation Address) be translated into multiple languages.

In education, some provinces and schools have embraced multilingual strategies. For instance, the Eastern Cape Department of Education has promoted isiXhosa learning materials and bilingual teacher training; Limpopo offers Sepedi-medium instruction in more primary schools; and Gauteng has funded Bantu-language literacy projects. Universities have created African-language departments (e.g. North-West University has Xitsonga and Setswana programs) and developed dictionaries and research in indigenous linguistics. The Department of Arts and Culture has sponsored literature prizes in South African languages and organised media productions (radio dramas, TV shows) in various tongues. Nongovernmental organisations and linguistic activists also run mother-tongue literature workshops, community media cooperatives, and campaigns for better language rights (for example, pushing for schools to respect students’ home languages and for municipalities to provide translation).

Internationally, South Africa has engaged with UNESCO and the African Union on language preservation. South African delegates championed the adoption of Zulu and Xhosa into global digital platforms, and UNESCO has raised awareness (e.g. declaring 2019 as the Year of Indigenous Languages) that reinforces local efforts. Private-sector initiatives have emerged too: some tech companies and startups are localizing products into local languages (such as educational apps in isiZulu) to tap growing markets.

Ongoing challenges and criticism

Despite advances, many observers caution that symbolic recognition has outpaced substantive change. Language planners warn of tokenism: African languages may be “institutionalised” on paper or in rotation, but without real funding their status remains nominal. A senior government official was quoted in 2024 saying that merely adding a language to the constitution yielded “the same unsatisfactory result” as previous reforms. Critics argue that if budgets and curriculum development do not match the rhetoric, black-letter rights will not translate into everyday multilingualism. For example, almost all courtroom proceedings are still in English unless specifically requested otherwise, and many rural clinics only have English or Afrikaans staff.

There is also political pushback. The 2024 BELA school language law sparked fierce debate: some Afrikaner organisations and the Democratic Alliance accused it of undermining Afrikaans schools. They point out that Afrikaans-only schools are a small minority (under 5%) and argue they should not be forced to adopt English-medium instruction. Supporters of the law reply that it is necessary to prevent schools from using language as a proxy for racial segregation. President Ramaphosa and education officials defended the reforms as needed to make education more equitable, citing cases of learners being denied admission based on language policies.

Many language activists also complain of inconsistent implementation. Audits by the public protector and human-rights commission have repeatedly found that departments and schools often fail to meet their own multilingual targets. For instance, a 2022 report found dozens of municipalities still lacked policies for African languages, and that PanSALB’s complaints mechanisms were overwhelmed. On the ground, African-language education remains hindered by a shortage of teachers and materials. As one scholar put it, “English and Afrikaans teachers receive language training in their tongues, whereas educators teaching African language literacy are often trained in English”.

Broader socioeconomic realities pose constraints. The dominance of English in business and media creates a self-reinforcing cycle: parents often prefer English-medium schools, private schools and tertiary institutions are almost entirely anglophone, and students feel pressured to learn English for global opportunities. Overcoming this requires sustained political will and cultural change. Post-apartheid South Africa acknowledges these problems and has taken steps to resolve them – but critics warn that without follow-through, the promise of equal language status will remain largely unfulfilled.

See also

• Languages of South Africa
• Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB)
• Language policy in South Africa
• Education in South Africa
• Bantu Education Act
• South African Sign Language (SASL)
• Linguistic rights
• Afrikaans language