PRESS STATEMENT BY
THE INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY

IFP DECRIES PARENTS DEGRADING INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES

Cape Town: 1 June 2001

The Inkatha Freedom Party decried that some parents choose to communicate in English with their children at the expense of indigenous languages. Speaking today in parliament on the International Children’s Day, IFP Member of Parliament, Mrs Lindiwe Mbuyazi said:

"Today some African parents communicate with children in English in their households. Whereas it is good to inculcate the demands of the global village that imposes on us new developments, we should not also forget to instill the philosophy of Africanness. Children attending school in urban areas look down upon children attending in township and /or rural schools. They are not even interested in just playing with them."

"These are just minor things that can in a long run marginalize communities and ultimately destroy the very fabric that the new democracy has painstakingly knit together. If we let our children go this unfathomable path, we will have a divided society and thus two worlds in one country. We cannot be promoting linguistic rights on one hand and erode them on the other. Research has shown that in schools with a substantial number of African students, teachers did recognise that language was an important factor in influencing learning and performance."

Mrs Mbuyazi urged parents to rededicate themselves to the resuscitation of family values.

"The IFP believes in the principle of family values. Family values are not confined to one’s own immediate or nuclear family, but they go far beyond that to the extended family and ultimately the larger communal family. This is the African concept of the family values."

"Family values incorporate the protection of oral tradition that is fast dissipating among our communities and families. Oral tradition passed on the stories, in the form of riddles, fairy tales, fables and prose which in turn groomed listening and cognitive skills among children."

"Where are those grannies today that could pass on that heritage? Have they been swallowed up in the sophistication of the modern world?"

Mbuyazi further urged parents to lead their children by example because children are very good observers and role players at that. In their plays, the children must imitate from parental conduct values, which the parents cannot be ashamed to hear and see.

For Further Information:

Mrs LR Mbuyazi, MP 083 440 5948
National Parliamentary Media Office 021-403 3965