Mpumalanga Languages Act - New Bosses Annoucing their Arrival?

In the late 1960s and early ‘70s, in preparation for the establishment of homelands, tens of thousands of Mapulana were forcefully relocated to Bushbuckridge. It was zoned by apartheid architects into what they called Mapulaneng. This zoning was done to irk Amashangaan who resided fifteen metres away in Gazankulu; in a region called Mhala which means ‘bushbuck’.

In 1972 Lebowa was founded as a bantustan for BaPedi. My family settled in 1973. The aim behind Lebowa was to erode all other Sotho groups in the Transvaal and manage them under one identity. Social-engineering tried to produce a homogenous bunch of niggers void of culture and diversity.

Based on the apartheid language policies it meant that every language once spoken and written by the ‘lesser humans’ was reduced to a dialect and no resources will be availed for its development. When this apartheid experiment was completed there was only nine indigenous languages left and tens of ‘dialects’. In Northern Sotho ‘a dialect’ is called ‘polelosemmotwana’ – or a language for a region.

Our democratic order had an opportunity to redress this setback; if not in 1994 probably twenty years later as part of restoring indigenous people’s rights.  Twenty years later our official language designation is structured along the nine bantustans plus English and Afrikaans. In this respect, nothing has changed as far as restoration of dignity is concerned. The wagon has not moved a single inch since 1994.

I was recently invited to a Mpumalanga Languages Act Awareness workshop. As a language activist the first anomality I picked on the Act was its designation of Siswati, isiNdebele, English and Afrikaans as the official languages of the province. This according to government means these are the only languages where state resources will be committed to promote, develop, protect and use in daily government communication.

In Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, a municipality in Mpumalanga, people speak Shangaan and Sepulana. My grandmother and thousands of others brutalised by apartheid’s Group Areas Act cannot read, speak or write any of the languages which are now going to be used by the Mpumalanga government to communicate with them. Siswati speakers are a minority in Bushbuckridge, no known isiNdebele speaker and probably less than 100 English and Afrikaans speakers.

To suddenly elevate the languages of minorities to those used in government communications, marketing, signage and branding is a recipe for ethnic conflict. It is a short-cut to reversing gains made in 1994 when bantustans were dissolved. People will not take it lying down and might start talking limited autonomy or secession.

I raised it with the house that the Act was not progressive, it was counter-development and did not reflect the population but power dynamics in the province. MaSwati, AmaNdebele, Afrikaners and English are in power and they want the Shangaan and Mapulana to feel it. It feels like the new bosses are announcing their arrival.

I explained to delegates from PanSALB that apartheid history was not taken into consideration while drafting the legislation.

In his presentation PanSALB Mpumalanga Chairperson Dr Thulani Mbuli said that Sepulana was a ‘community language’ which is ‘level seven’; one level away from becoming official. During question and answer I asked him what measures need to be undertaken to promote a language from being a community to official since I am itching to have Sepulana be the first reason to amend this archaic Mpumalanga Languages Act. I asked him; given that PanSALB only funds languages already declared official; how does government help in that process?

Dr Mbuli was honest that he had been asking the same questions for ages and the response he’s got is that there are no guidelines for a language to become official. Simply put, the eleven languages at the dinner table have tossed away the key and they don’t want anybody joining their sushi feast.

A PanSALBs advocate said there is a debate amongst linguists whether Sepulana is a language or a dialect. She said there was no consensus on that. So, these people who enjoy a seat at the dinner table have been given the power to decide on who should join them.

Truth is; research conducted by academics at Wits University largely supports the fact that Sepulana is a language while that conducted by academics at Limpopo usually supports the notion that it’s a dialect of Sepedi. However those who have been following the language debate will know that there is even a protest about why languages such as Khilobedu, Sexalaka etc are collectively called Sepedi while Sepedi is just one of them. What is this Sepedi that refuses to be an equal?

The argument by these Limpopo-based academics fails to explain the history of Mapulana prior to 1972. Wherever they were living they must have been speaking, reading and writing their distinct language. If they were speaking Sepedi they would not have been forcefully moved by simply absorbed into Lebowa. Sepulana only became a dialect in 1972; while Mapulana civilization has existed for thousands of years before that with their traditions, culture and traditional leadership which are so different from everyone else’s it’s like cheese and chalk.

In this sense the Mpumalanga Languages Act, which also fails to promote Shangaaan ‘because it’s already promoted in Limpopo’ is a backward Act which I doubt can withstand constitutional rigor. Its authors fail to know that Shangaaan is exclusively a Bushbuckridge language while Limpopo has Xitsonga. There’s nowhere where Shangaan is promoted and it’s only in Mpumalanga where such protection could be granted. And how do they justify English which is official in 58 countries and Afrikaans which is promoted in all nine provinces?

To both Mapulana and amaShangaan of Bushbuckridge and those Mapulana of Thaba-Chweu (Mphato, Hlabekisa, Matibidi etc) the Act is a fascist piece of legislation that did not warrant the quality of discussion it was afforded given that it’s a perpetuation of the apartheid legacy of divide and rule.

MPUMALANGA'S FINEST

Now, here's some raw stuff you'll never get to read anywhere else about my 'hood. Not only is it a lovable 'hood but it also has culture, serious lifestyle and culture that makes it a serious contender for the Presidential Orders, if only they were given to 'hoods. So, this year it was not that different.

Mpumalanga’s flagship hip hop pilgrimage, Luv Ur Hood (themed Marope Ra Maja - we are eating dumbies) kicked off 2011 with a bang. A bang it could be heard in the Libyan cities of Misrata and Benghazi.

Within a short space of four months the stellar session hosted two spasmodic shows that exposed new emcees (cats with rhymes), new voices (poets with lines) and new patrons to this grassroots hip hop extravaganza pioneered by Katsuko (Khutso Malele) and Masta H (Hlompho Lekhuleni).

The 2011 revolution, immediately after the successful Tunisian and Egyptian insurrections started off on 26 March with an outing to Love Life Centre at Acornhoek. Luv Ur Hood has never been held outside of its homebase Ga-Kabila, which is a chillaz doubling as a car-wash and other things the police with ugly berets wouldn't want to read about. F-ck it, those dudes can't read.

In its inaugural outside venture it attracted new emcees who have performed in bedrooms and garages thinking the world was four by four metres wide. You know those cats whose parents bought desktop computers and installed them FruityLoops and Q-Base and who have always rapped their lungs out inspired by the latest video on TRL.

The Luv Ur Hood show exposed the talent of cats such as Eardrumbusters from Bushbuckridge whose intimidating lyrics reminds one of deceased geniuses, Tupac and Biggie - especially on that fearsome 'i f-cked your b-tch' ripper. There was also Thulamahashe’s finest in Crazy Doggz, who are a tight set led by C-well, a veteran of the game. C-well's involvement in the game is as old as Cashless Society.

Mesmerizing was the performance of KFB (who never really jots down his lyrics) and newcomer to the game Young KCee with his mohawk. Modelling his style and swag after the Young Money crew, KCee had half the crowd eating out of his tiny palm as he was accompanied by his cousin and hype-man for the day Masta H. For a moment it reminded me of the old Busta Rhyme and Spliffstar. At least a hundred patrons were entertained. With regulars DJ Sparkle, newcomers JOP, Wonder, Chris Force Feed and two DJs from Radio Bushbuckridge KP and Matt the show gave a platform to b-boys Wild Cats. KP is the older brother to prolific producer and rapper AB-Crazy and him and Matt hosts a show between 18h00 and 21h00 every Friday on Radio Bush. There were also life skills offered by the Love Life team.

On 24 April, barely a month later the duo took the session, themed Mangozi ya tala ka Spice (Raw mangoes eaten with spice), back to its spiritual home, Ga-Kabila in Shatale. Characterised by a proliferation of tight emcees and ghetto merchandise on sale and display, the Freedom Day eve show was off the hook. Snoop Dogg would have said 'off the hinges'.

Krazy Doggz brought their whole entourage, numbering a staggering eight or ten to the show which was graced by hundreds of good-looking clean patrons. Blue Noise from Sabie performed and bootlegged their CD titled Focused. The trio still need a stage act and presence. They looked a little disjointed.

Young KCee held down the stage but the show was flipped by Dwarsloop’s hardcore-manic Dialectic. This younger brother to DJ Sparkle free-styled with so much flow that even KFB who free-styles unhindered had to pick up his game or risk obsolensce. On the day Katsuko performed what is undoubtedly going to become the Luv Ur Hood anthem titled Ke Tšwa Bush. On a show that was more about flexing muscles and impressing hordes of sesenhoritas, C-well blasted, KP and Masta H spit rhymes in Get Your Swag On, a song from H’s still-in-the-kitchen mixtape.

On sale were mixtapes from Krazy Doggz and Blue Noise. Also sold were tons of t-shirts by 100% Lepulana/Tsonga, Re Phela SOH, Luv Ur Hood, Shatale Ya Rocka etc. Langa Media’s Nellie Ndlovu (publisher of Bushbuckridge News) graced the event and showed interest in a partnership. The next Luv Ur Hood show will be hosted by Krazy Doggz in Thulamahashe in June.

Honour Amongst Dogs

On a week that we saw a lot of altercations between the media and people who think they are above the law isn’t it interesting that it ended on an encouraging note. Not only did we see the Visagie AWB chap being hackled by e.tv’s Chris Maroleng after he blew his lid while being interviewed by the daughter of a pan-Africanist Lebogang Pheko.

The week ended well because finally ANC chief Jacob Zuma decided to develop some teeth. On Saturday he finally promised to sink them so deep into Juju that the poor boy with a Sandton address will get rabies on the spot. But our understanding of their fragile relationships has informed some of us that JZ is a ram and Juju is trusted lapdog – more trusted than Mo Shaik.

See Juju started off as a Chihuahua – back in the days when spooks like Mo were vultures staking Thabo Mbeki. Juju was a Chihuahua with an in-built alto vuvuzela, a cheerleader really. Now Juju is barking like a German shepherd and his latest bark is ‘rubbish is what lies under your trousers, that’s rubbish… bastard…bladdy agent’. Poor Jonah Fisher timidly walked out since he couldn’t imagine ANC security guards who massacred so many people when Luthuli was still Shell House throwing his ‘white’ ass out of the skyscraper.

As journalist we always expect blood and gore when we go out on assignments but none at a Luthuli 11th floor media conference. Yes, most of the times we go out and really have to step over dry blood as we take pictures of warm corpses, but such an expectation will never cross our minds when invited to a Zimbabwe Tour Report Back media conference.

Now you see, these conferences are supposed to be choreographed by folks like Floyd Shibambu (he of Floetry fame) and no insurance taken since people hardly die at media conferences. We even leave our bulletproofs in the boots of our cars when we go to media conferences.

That’s until Juju stepped in and turned them into battle zones. Now JZ says he will hang him high by the balls. I’m surprised cuz I doubt if Juju does have balls. However it’s a welcome development.

The Jub-Jub Reality Show



MPUMALANGA'S FINEST

Do We Need A Truth Commission, Would the Teachers Line Up to Confess?
We are a nation obsessed with the truths we can handle. We bury under the rubble of patriotism anything that exposes our vulnerabilities like the Ralushai Report on Traditional Leadership, Operation Dribble, Jali and Khampepe Commissions’ findings, Inquiry into Umkhonto we Sizwe Atrocities and Commission of Inquiry into Witchcraft in Limpopo. We settle for forums where liars can perjure and escape like the Desai, Harms, and Goldstone Commissions, SABC Commission of Inquiry into Blacklisting and Related Matters, Hefer and Truth and Reconciliation Commissions etc.

Today in South Africa, especially brazenly so in Bushbuckridge we are faced with teachers who will obstruct any investigation into their sexual conduct with learners. At the same time we are burdened with teacher unions which instruct their members not to co-operate with whoever tries to investigate such atrocities. And then there are learners who are bribed and intimidated not to talk to any investigator about what they see happening in and outside of classrooms. Incidentally, we have School Governing Bodies which are run by political appointees who themselves are often guilty of the same crime or are taking instructions from their political bosses not to act.

On the ‘blamed’ side is the department of education that is incapable and ill-equipped to execute ‘truth’ investigations of this magnitude. South African Council of Educators does not have a lie detector to know if a teacher is lying about his liaisons with learners and its scope is limited. On the final end we have a Jacob Zuma government that is so focused on its own public image that it spends a lot of time and money on PR than investing in the future. The future is education and education is only feasible when learners don’t fall pregnant and drop out, are not abused by teachers and parents and are afforded the best protection by society. Half the abuse happening in black schools will not suffice in hoërskools and where the SGBs are made up of lawyers, accountants and company executives.

The atrocities committed by teachers in Bushbuckridge warrant a commission of inquiry with judicial powers to subpoena and charge people with perjury if they lie under oath. SADTU has shown its unwillingness to discipline its own members and only a process whereby ten years of abuse will be revisited and people punished can remedy this practice with the potential to arrest development. One wonders why would teachers celebrate an own goal when they score with 14-years old girls?

Without any intervention of judicial proportions there is no future for the girl-child. The Cell C Take A Girl-Child to Work campaign, which Zuma takes part in every year is just a futile money wasting exercise because the girl-child is not going to work but to labour.

Any investigation without judicial powers is a mockery and this year arrogant teachers in Bushbuckridge will be impregnating another bunch, it collapses into the social net and the teachers’ own children will be wearing their shiny blazers as they saunter into hoërskools and seminaries in town. South Africa had cold-blooded killers confessing at the TRC; it can’t fail to get confessions from teachers and former learners – for the sake of our future.