Language Research

Until the end of 1994 English and Afrikaans were the only official languages, although only 9% and 15% of the total population spoke them respectively. Afrikaans was used by 83% of Colored people. The Constitution in 1994 recognized nine African languages (Bantu languages) to be official. Some of these African languages are mutually understood and many Blacks can speak two or more of them in addition to English and Afrikaans. Together these 11 languages are the primary languages of 98% of South Africans. The most widely spoken are Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans and English.

Many people realized that multilingualism is a very costly problem. Translation of all the documents, forms and circulars to 11 official languages is an enormous burden that can barely be carried.