Chairperson, this topic will be discussed next month by all parliaments of the world in the Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU, in Canada. The question to be debated is: What becomes of one's language, identity and culture in a globalised world? Are we losing or retaining them? There is evidence of massive disappearance of languages. When American Indians arrived in North America some 30 000 years ago, approximately 600 languages were spoken. The indigenous people of Australia, the Aborigines and the others had been there for 50 000 years when the whites arrived in 1788. They were speaking about 250 languages. What has become of them?
The diversity of our planet is breathtaking. There are currently about seven billion people on earth and 193 nations are represented at the United Nations. In respect of religion, there are at least 38 000 Christian denominations and many, many other faiths.
In Africa alone there are one billion people speaking 3 000 languages. The crucial question is: What becomes of your and my mother tongue, our culture and our identities in this globalised world? It appears that we have two choices: Either retain our identities, languages and cultures, or trade them in for new ones so that the world eventually becomes as close as possible to one huge homogeneous place. I personally choose to retain my mother tongue, Afrikaans. I also speak English, reasonable French and some Portuguese. Gape ke a leka go bua Sesotho, [I also try to speak Sesotho,] and ngiyazama ukukhuluma IsiZulu futhi. [I also try to speak IsiZulu.] But the critical question remains: Are these languages also going to disappear in some distant future?
To summarise, I believe that even in a globalised world all nations, ethnic groups and language groups are entitled to retain their mother languages, cultural diversity, identities, their religions and their citizenships in a globalised world. Thank you.