Clutter is no good, even for languages

LAST week, two headlines in the Cape Times caught my eye. The first, on Wednesday, was “Hoarding becomes worse with old age.” The second, on Thursday, was “Teaching African languages not prioritised.”

The truth dawned on me loud and clear. One look in my study or garage confirms that I am a hoarder.

My intention is to trash all the offending items before I turn 80.

I hope to die peacefully, knowing that I have not left an awful shambles for my descendants to clear up.

Having digested the slow progress in offering indigenous African languages to pupils, it occurred to me that Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga is suffering from a similar hoarding disorder.

Preserving outdated languages creates clutter and is not a prerequisite to preserving heritage and culture.

For instance, the Scots have not lost their folklore and heritage, but Gaelic is spoken only in Nova Scotia and some outer islands.

Sadly, rapid transport and human mobility have brought about the demise of multilingualism worldwide.

Communication in sub-Saharan Africa would improve immeasurably if Motshekga and her ministry got to grips with the trend. A positive move would be to promote one African language.

Kiswahili seems to be the obvious choice.

Nationally we are not doing our offspring any favours if we coerce them into learning languages that have limited application and probably no future.

Emotional hoarding can debilitate the country. We urgently need to clear it up.

About 6 000 languages exist but more than half the world’s population uses only 20 of them.

If all sub-Saharan African nations could develop the resolve to pursue the Kiswahili initiative, it would boost internal trade and improve race relations.

After time it might even squeeze English into second place.