Cyril Ramaphosa asks citizens ‘to learn another South African language’
With the Day of Reconciliation just 48 hours away, President Cyril Ramaphosa has been considering what South Africans can do to bridge the racial and cultural gaps that still exist in Mzansi. The head of state believes that we should all try to learn another one of our 11 official languages ‘to help achieve cross-cultural understanding’.
What are the official languages of South Africa, and how many are there?
Ramaphosa admits that ‘taking the first step’ is not going to be easy, but also reckons that learning another South African language would seriously help more of us ‘understand the different points of view’ held by people from alternative backgrounds. If you fancy heeding the call from Cyril, you have 11 different dialects to choose from:
- English
- Afrikaans
- IsiZulu
- isiXhosa
- isiNdebele
- siSwati
- Sepedi
- Tshivenda
- Xitsonga
- Sesotho
- Setswana
Cyril Ramaphosa’s Day of Reconciliation preview
The president made this point in his weekly newsletter. He praised the popular Facebook group #ImStaying, and reiterated his firm belief that South Africa is still healing from the ‘brutal and petty rule’ of apartheid.
“Reconciliation is a weighty concept, and there may be many who are unsure as to what they can actually do to advance racial reconciliation. We may feel reticent to take the first step or to reach out, for fear of being judged or even rejected.”
Cyril Ramaphosa
“On this Reconciliation Day, I call on each of our citizens to think of the simple things they could do to reach out across the racial divide in their everyday lives. One way of doing this is to learn another South African language.”
“By trying to learn the language of your friend, your colleague, your neighbour, or the people you interact with daily in public places, you go beyond just demonstrating cross-cultural understanding. You open up the space for real communication. We need to find ways to reach beyond our social and professional circles, to appreciate other people’s points of view.”
On this #ReconciliationDay, I call on each of our citizens to think of the simple things they could do to reach out across the racial divide in their everyday lives. One way of doing this is to learn another South African language. https://t.co/1NPpdPoJz8 pic.twitter.com/tnb6HnsNew
— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 #StaySafe (@CyrilRamaphosa) December 14, 2020
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