Breaking down language barriers
Zibonele Ntuli
6 May 2004
The Pan South African Language Board has launched a linguistic human rights awareness campaign to raise the public's awareness of their right to be served in their languages at government institutions.
Speaking at the launch of the campaign in Pretoria on Monday, PanSALB chief executive Cynthia Marivate told passersby they have a right to complain if government institutions discriminated against their languages.
Marivate said the public should complain to PanSALB if public servants refused to serve them in their language.
"This is not only limited to written information, even the verbal information should be communicated through the language citizens best understand," she said.
She said it was the responsibility of government to get interpreters of all languages at its key delivery service points.
"Language rights should not be taken as a debate, we are not fighting our government with this, but for the development of our diverse
nation. Government is bound to adhere to the Constitution and it should promote all languages," said Marivate.
She said it was time for the South African public to learn other people's languages in order to communicate properly, adding that people must take pride in their languages.
In an effort to promote all the country's official languages, PanSALB has established an electronic translation programme in conjunction with Afrilingo, a company that has translated English computer programmes into isiZulu, isiXhosa, seTswana, Sesotho and Afrikaans.
Afrilingo marketing and programme developer, Thami Olivier said the programme had been introduced at Motheo and Mangaung District Municipalities in the Free State.
"Our aim is to break down the language barriers. By typing a word, you will get its translation in your preferred language and when you click the volume icon box you will hear how it is pronounced," said Olivier.
He said some copies of the programme
have been distributed to US embassies, who went on to dispense these to their country.
"This helps tourists to know the basics of language before they arrive in South Africa. We look at taking this programme to the rest of Africa," Olivier said, adding that further translations into five other languages would be released at the end of July.
Source: BuaNews
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