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AfriForum welcomes a letter sent this morning to members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the Northern Cape as an important victory for language rights on the eve of Human Rights Day. In the letter dated 20 March, SAPS members in this province are informed that they have to ignore the instruction of the Northern Cape Deputy Provincial Commissioner, Major General L. Ngubelanga, that all official SAPS documents in the province should henceforth be in English only.

According to Alana Bailey, AfriForum’s Head of Cultural Affairs, it is a relief that the instruction has been withdrawn so quickly. “After institutions, including AfriForum, Solidarity and Cape Forum had become aware of this language rights violation, possible legal action was considered, and a complaint against it was lodged with the Pan-South African Language Board (PanSALB). AfriForum was also contacted by members who mentioned incidents where the rights of crime victims had been violated when police service members, who have no training as translators or interpreters and are not first language English speakers, had to take down statements in English.”

“It is particularly perturbing that senior SAPS members are not taking note of these challenges, as the instruction of 12 March demonstrates,” she says.

A similar instruction issued in 2016 in the Northern Cape was withdrawn in 2017 after Solidarity had taken legal action against it.

“It is essential that the public should not ignore instructions and directives of this nature but should bring them to the attention of institutions such as AfriForum as soon as possible. The rapid withdrawal of this instruction proves that action against it can indeed be successful. Language rights can only be realised when the speakers of the languages concerned, jealously guard it,” Bailey emphasised.

Issued by AfriForum