Use of isiZulu is simply a right

WITH reference to “Mayor wants Zulu spoken”, (The Mercury, September 21), the month of September is a time when South Africans celebrate their diverse heritage, and it is imperative that we all celebrate who we are.

Recently during an executive committee meeting, I made a statement that all South Africans should be proud to speak their mother tongue, regardless of where they are.

The content and the tone of the article, which mocked my celebration of my mother tongue, isiZulu, came as a surprise when the country’s democratic constitution, which came into effect on February 4, 1997, recognised 11 official languages and guaranteed them equal status. isiZulu is one of those languages. My view is that no-one should feel ashamed or be victimised for choosing to speak or be addressed in their mother tongue.

I was also dismayed by a statement regarding President Jacob Zuma’s ability to speak English. The statement is attributed to me. The city would never undermine his authority or bring him into disrepute.

We are all well aware that our president supports the development of all our official languages.

I was misquoted and my words were warped when I had in fact been making reference to the recent visit by our president and the leader of the Chinese delegation. I had been encouraging the citizens of our city to learn how to speak isiZulu, which is the most spoken language in eThekwini. I also encouraged my fellow politicians and city officials to learn to communicate using this beautiful language.

As the city prepares to host the uMkhosi WeLembe, a celebration of 200 years since the formation of the Zulu nation, we encourage our citizens to learn and celebrate each other’s culture.

This is also in line with nation-building and social cohesion strategies.

I appreciate that in all our meetings, members should be able to speak in a language of their choice, and it is with this in mind that I recommended interpretation services be made readily available.

The discussion at exco was not meant to victimise any member of our council, nor our citizens. Each of us has a preference and, if an individual is able to articulate in any of our official languages, he/she has the freedom to do so without any judgement. ZANDILE GUMEDE

eThekwini Mayor IN RESPONSE to the eThekwini mayor’s ridiculous statement that all councillors must speak isiZulu, I suggest she rather gets the city’s consolidated billing system operational first. And concentrates on collecting all rates and service charges, instead of having to write off billions every year.

She should ensure that all the potholes are filled and clean up the beaches and rivers. Sort out the current chaos with e-services and crack the whip on the corrupt and useless metro police.

Have the Mynahs and other buses actually run on time – does she know that there isn’t a single Mynah bus timetable available online or anywhere else?

Clean up the parks and get all the beggars and thieves out of every intersection. Stop the corruption that is bleeding the city dry, and charge corrupt officials instead of placing them on paid leave for years and years.

Then we can decide whether it’s so important that every council meeting and document is conducted in isiZulu, or Greek or Chinese (which is actually much more important).

Instead of fixing the system and getting the city to WORK for the people who pay the rates, she and her fellow travellers rename streets and buildings, build statues, hold rock concerts and invoke the names of ancestors and long-dead leaders of the struggle. Classic Marxism. Anything to distract attention from the real issues: like getting the basics fixed and working properly and dealing with endemic corruption and inefficiency. Then we can all go and learn whichever language works best to make this city great again.

Until she gets her priorities sorted, I suggest that our only response to her call is one in choice language. MARK LOWE

Durban

Use school breaks to speak isiZulu

DESPITE the fact that black parents may well send their children to former whites-only schools to improve their English skills, why does this mean that they should be forbidden from speaking their mother tongue at break?

They are doing all their subjects in English.

This makes their school day more stressful than that of English first-language speakers, so they need a break in which to relax.

Surely schools can come up with innovative ways to accommodate all? The Sans Souci approach merely serves to marginalise those who have been marginalised for long enough in their own country.

More to the point, the English first-language speakers should be improving their skills in our African languages, such as isiZulu, isiXhosa, seSotho and others.

Perhaps the breaks should be devoted to these languages. Are African languages taught in these schools? If not, why not?

How can one live in South Africa and make no attempt to learn the home language of the majority of our people?

The UKZN Medical School requires medical students to be able to communicate with patients in isiZulu. Future employment could rest on a job-seeker’s ability to speak more than English and a smattering of Afrikaans. In a country where social cohesion is still a pipe dream, the promotion of English above all other languages is unacceptable.

I attended Sans Souci in 1973 and 1974 and Jean Kenyon was indeed the principal. I had a wonderful English teacher, Mrs Morgan, who taught us the poems of Mongane Wally Serote and Oswald Mtshali; I doubt she would approve of these discriminatory rules. I am proud of those schoolgirls for standing up for themselves. PENNY DE VRIES AKA SIS’ THEMBI Glenwood

Depressing to see country going to pot

The article “Dumped nappies a threat to Midmar” (The Mercury, September 21) refers.

This shocking, disgusting situation should have us writhing in horror and disgust!

This dam supplies Durban with our drinking water; it is appalling that so many in this country are happy to live in a filthy pigsty state. It is shameful that this refuse is not collected and people discard it without a single thought.

Headlines in another regional weekly laments that litter/ rubbish is blocking drains in Pinetown, causing floods. I am sure the same applies to the CBD beach and other areas in this appallingly mismanaged city and other regions.

We need a change in local government in every ANC-led council in Durban and elsewhere. It is depressing in the extreme to see our country going to pot in so many places where the ANC is in power. M MITCHELL

Westville