Hon Deputy Speaker, hon Deputy President, hon members, theoretically and on paper, all South Africans have the right to use the official language of their choice, but this right applies only to those who speak one of the 11 official languages.
This House cannot and must not close its eyes to the reality that there are more than 11 languages in South Africa. The right to use the language of one's choice is not being enjoyed by people who speak sign language and people who speak the Khoi and the San languages. The people who speak Northern isiNdebele - isiNdebele saseNyakathu -are not enjoying this right. The people who stay in the areas of Majaneng in Hammanskraal, Zebediela, Mokopane, Mashashane and Bakenberg are struggling to have their language recognised as an official language. They have a long record of the letters they wrote to previous Ministers of Arts and Culture and the Speaker of the