Charlize says ‘Afrikaans is a dying language and not helpful’
SOUTH African-born American actress Charlize Theron got Mzansi talking after a controversial statement she made in a recent podcast interview.
Accompanied by hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett on the Smartless podcast, Theron, 44, appeared to undermine Afrikaans and claimed it was a dying language in South Africa.
The multi-award winning actress, who is originally from Benoni, told the hosts she didn’t speak English until she was 19 but got invested in the universal language when she left home.
“I grew up in an area where nobody in my neighbourhood spoke the language, when I came here at 19, it was easy for me to drop the (South African) accent because I was really learning English from scratch.”
She added about her mother tongue: “There’s about 44 people still speaking it, it’s definitely a dying language, it’s not a very helpful language.”
Since the hosts are from comedic backgrounds, it was not clear whether Theron was just joking.
Her comments did not go down well with many social media users and her name topped the local Twitter trends list.
@AmandaBRinquest wrote: “Charlize has never chosen peace, she’s come for racism, she’s come for GBV, she’s come for corruption, and now she is somer coming for Afrikaans.”
The EFF’s @FloydShivambu wrote: “Charlize Theron’s intuitive view on Afrikaans is very interesting:.
“There's about 44 people still speaking it. It’s definitely a dying language; it’s not a very helpful language.”
@TshidisoFeela shared a video: “Some of the 44 Afrikanerdoms Charlize Theron is talking about – #PhalaPhalaFarmGate”
@SaaymanBarry tweeted: “I will say it in English for her benefit. Someone should inform Charlize that her opinion about Afrikaans is important and that it is the home language of about 7 million SAns of which by far the majority is black. Also tell her that it is the majority language in the WC/NC.”
Some agreed with the actress. @UnmovedLee said: “Thank you for making my morning a great one to wake up to. Anything that unsettles settlers is always a good thing. Anything that makes AfriForum fume in their supremacy is excellent. I’m here for the kind of white-onwhite vawolens (violence) that you chose.”
Thuso1Africa wrote: “Charlize is 100% correct. Watch, Europeans will attack her the same way they attacked Dischem.” |