AfriForum requests inclusion of Afrikaans in tourism's language policy

AfriForum on Monday requested that Afrikaans be included by the Department of Tourism as one of its official languages of service delivery — this follows the publication of the department’s draft language policy according to which its three official languages will be English‚ Sepedi and IsiZulu.

The policy also states that service delivery will be provided in the other official languages of South Africa‚ including Afrikaans‚ on demand‚ taking into account usage‚ practicality‚ expense‚ regional considerations and public need.

According to Alana Bailey‚ deputy CEO of AfriForum‚ the organisation regards the department’s decision to exclude Afrikaans as short-sighted and part of the government’s agenda against Afrikaans.

“In addition to English‚ it is the only high-function language among the eleven official languages of the country. It is a language that is internationally understood — people who understand Dutch and Flemish can understand Afrikaans as well.

“Next to the speakers of isiZulu and isiXhosa‚ Afrikaans speakers comprise the third largest group in the country. If the department indeed is serious about service delivery and public need‚ it has to take these factors into account and include Afrikaans as a language of service‚” Bailey said.

She said that the department’s proposed language policy‚ like that of many other national departments published to date‚ was disappointing as it did not include details on departmental programmes to be introduced to promote multilingualism among staff.

“Although three languages are supposedly chosen‚ the policy makes it evident that the department will predominantly function in English only.”