Why mocking president Zuma's accent is not okay
Most of us have laughed at another's mispronunciation of words that roll off our tongues quite easily. But we conveniently forget it's likely not their first language.
President Jacob Zuma's first language is not English, yet he delivers his State of the Nation Address in that very language every year.
English-speaking people are enormously critical of the president's mispronunciation, because Mr President, how dare you learn a second or third language imperfectly!
Some will argue by virtue of being president he should be fluent in English. That's nothing more than a feeble argument. We live in Africa where a plethora of languages are widely-spoken - none of them English.
Do we expect the presidents of China, Mexico and Portugal to be fluent in English? Likely not. We somehow make allowances for them. For Zuma, not so much.
Those who are hyper-critical of the president should attempt to do as the president does and deliver a business briefing in a language far removed from the one they grew up speaking.
Viewing English as the primary language in which we ought to communicate mocks our Constitution and its recognition of all our official languages which include: Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu.
English-speaking South Africans, myself included, are too comfortable with the idea that everyone can speak, read and understand English.
I recently wrote out a list of things to do for a domestic. She didn't do the things on the list, because she couldn't read. My ignorance made me believe she could.
English remains a dominant language in our world of work. It is also the aspirational language of most people in our country, but that stems from Apartheid and the sometimes debilitating legacy it's left behind.
Zulu is the most widely-spoken home language in the country, yet English is the hegemonic lingua franca of South Africa, in all aspects including education, business and politics.
This dates back to British colonisation where English enjoyed much privilege. The privilege remains despite the Apartheid government's attempts to push Afrikaans as the dominant language.
Speaking English fluently is associated with having had a good education. It's seen as the key to success and power - so much so that many young South Africans have abandoned their mother tongue. In turn their children are raised in English-speaking homes and their language heritage erased. It's most evident in our schools.
English will remain the hegemonic lingua franca of South Africa, but that does not mean other languages should be discarded and forgotten. Surely it needs to be a compulsory subject in our schools - from the foundation phase up until matric.
I write this as we commemorate International Mother Language Day and leave you with this - we speak with a European tongue in Africa. It is time that something's gotta give!