CDM Municipality
Related Articles
Executive Mayor Cllr John Mpe opened the second session of the World Mother Tongue Day, hosted by PanSALB as part of 28 Days of Language Activism at Meropa Casino in Polokwane. Speaking during the opening Mpe warned “there is a trend amongst some of our children who neglect African languages and parents are equally guilty of betraying our Africanism. We have to ensure that we begin to re-orientate our own children from a socialization that glorifies Western languages and lifestyles at the expense of their own”.
“It is for this reason that parents should find creative ways of getting their kids in contact with their languages and heritage, such as promoting our rich oral traditions and customs by telling them those fairytales, reading them books written in our languages, and recite poems for them so that they can have a sense and taste of Pan Africanism”.
“Parents should also ensure that their school-going children take at least one African language as an additional language so they can stay connected to their roots and be able to communicate and socialize with their peers from diverse backgrounds”, reiterated Mpe.
When asked in an interview how far he was with the establishment of language units in CDM as per the Act 12 of 2012, Mpe explained that “the Act (Official Languages Act) mandates ONLY national government and their entities to establish language units that will advise accounting officers about the choice, use of languages and assess the status on the use of languages. So this means that we are not required, in terms of that legislation, to establish unit that deals specifically with the use and status of languages”.
“However, we have standardised guidelines that we follow regarding the use of languages both internally, officially and externally when we communicate with external stakeholders. Where necessary, we source the services of Hansard at the Provincial Legislature to translate key documents such as the IDP into an indigenous language; as well as the Disabled People of South Africa for translation into braille for the visually impaired stakeholders”, explained Mpe.
On whether CDM has a language policy and how it’s being implemented, Mpe did not hesitate to outline how the district municipality view the importance of language within its entirety. He emphasised, that “In our institution, the spirit and object of language policy is captured in our council standing rules as well as provided for in our communication policy. CDM is a home to people that speak or understand Sotho, XiTsonga, TshiVenda and English, although the district population is predominantly Sotho-speaking, in terms of Census 2011”.
“This means that the policy guidelines and logic dictate that we communicate in Sotho when we engage during outreach programmes, supplemented by sign language interpreting for the deaf stakeholders. Internally, the official language of written correspondence is English and verbal medium of correspondence for meetings can be any language that is understood by those in attendance or parties concerned. This is because the demographic composition of our staff compliment is made up of employees with African, white, Indian and coloured nativities”, concluded Mpe.
