Deputy Speaker, the ACDP supports this Bill, which recognises the diminished use and status of indigenous languages and requires the state to take practical and positive measures to elevate that status and advance the use of indigenous languages. However, language experts are still very troubled about the lack of acknowledgement of the form our languages are taking. Dr Dowling of UCT points out that African languages change and adapt just as robustly as English and Afrikaans, and that saying "official" often just means "not understandable".
Scholars of African languages embrace contemporary developments. They must have the funding to document them and then work to put their findings into schools. More needs to be done to ensure the training of language teachers, and language bursaries must be better marketed through schools and career counsellors. We must also not overlook researching the languages of millions of people who live in informal settlements and who grow up speaking a mixture of many languages. It is imperative that we find and fund researchers if we are serious about the speaking of our many languages. That about takes up my one minute. [Applause.]