Language planning and politics in South Africa

Abstract

The article discusses the wie of language policy and language planning in the establishment of democracy and nation building in a postapartheid South Africa. Given the country's history of colonialism and apartheid, language in South Africa has played a central r ole in dividing the country, in raising its conflict potential, and in establishing a contextfor manipulation and exploitation in many domains of public life. On April 27, 1994, the country's new Interim Constitution came into ejfect, with a Government of National Unity in office. The constitutional language stipulations, though framed within the principles of democracy, human rights, equity, nonracism, nonsexism, and affirmative action, are obviously insufficient in themselves for the establishment of a meaningful democracy and the promotion of national unity. This article debates the contribution of language policy and language planning to the democratization of South Africa and its nation-building process.