Abstract
In terms of the Census 2011 in South Africa, the majority of the South African population use indigenous African languages as mother tongue, compared to the minority that use English, Afrikaans and other languages. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act 108 of 1996) declared Sepedi (N. Sotho), Sesotho, Setswana, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, Siswati, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu as official languages of the Republic of South Africa. Even though in 1996 eleven languages were declared official by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act 108 of 1996), English and Afrikaans have maintained their pre-1994 status as de facto languages in the technical and scientific fields. The anomaly of the dominance of English and Afrikaans, particularly in the financial industry, has implication for the development of the majority of the citizens in the country, especially in poverty-alleviation and national development interventions. Without paying a special focus on the dynamics in languages, it could be extremely difficult to understand how issues of power, identity, conflict and resistance are established and maintained within organisations and even governments. The purpose of this paper is to investigate reasons for the persistence of the status quo in the positioning of languages in South Africa in particular regarding financial documents. This paper also looks at some of the challenges the African languages are faced with in making inroads in fields such as the finance, as well as implications for the speakers of the African languages over the two decades after the new dispensation was ushered in. The polysystem theory championed by Even-Zohar assists in putting the role translation can play in the effort of developing African languages and putting African languages into perspective. It is also hoped that this paper will contribute towards the debate on intellectualisation of the African languages in South Africa. Keywords: African languages, financial translation, multilingualism, polysystem, poverty, South Africa.
Highlights
According to Du Toit and Van Tonder (2009, p.15), the new dispensation in South Africa which came into power in 1994, ‘inherited an economy that was characterised by high levels of public debt, high inflation and poverty rates as well as little social security protection for the most vulnerable’
Regarding financial translation in South Africa, the first important task will be the training of financial translators in the indigenous African languages so that they are fully versed with all aspects of financial translation
In the light of the above discussions concerning Even-Zohar’s polysystem theory, the role of literature from the other languages is crucial in putting the indigenous African languages on the map in as far as financial translation is concerned
Summary
According to Du Toit and Van Tonder (2009, p.15), the new dispensation in South Africa which came into power in 1994, ‘inherited an economy that was characterised by high levels of public debt, high inflation and poverty rates as well as little social security protection for the most vulnerable’. The LANGTAG Report, which was the proposed input of public interaction and government on language issues, following the pre-democratic dispensation, had a huge impact on the development of African languages after 1994 in South Africa. Du Toit and Van Tonder (2009, p.15) further argue that with the new dispensation in place, the gap between the first and second economies in South Africa, with their opposing and unstable fundamentals, widened even further. In South Africa two Economies existed, the First Economy which could be associated with the speakers of English and Afrikaans, while the Second Economy, with the speakers of the indigenous African languages or often referred to as ‘Bantu languages’, such as Sesotho, isiXhosa, Sepedi (Northern Sesotho), isiNdebele, Siswati, Setswana, Xitsonga, Tshivenda and isiZulu. Molefe and Marais (2013, p. 73) allude to this when they argue that, ‘these poor people are speakers of the Bantu languages....’
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