The use of the isiNdebele language in the South African public service

Thesis (DTech. degree in Environmental, Water & Earth Sciences)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2004.The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act No. 108 of 1996), lists isiNdebele as one of the official languages of South Africa. One way of preventing this from being a mere nominal proclamation, is by making scientific studies. This research aims at uncovering how isiNdebele, the most neglected of all the official languages, has been used in the public service since 1994. This study examines four public language service agencies where isiNdebele is used, viz. the National Legislature, the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature, the National Language Service and the language unit of the Mpumalanga Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture. While there are some positive developments in government regarding language, for example, the launch of the National Language Policy in 2003, there are still operational, human, physical and co-ordination factors that inhibit the development of isiNdebele. It is with this in mind that government is invited to solve these problems by, inter alia- fast-tracking the development of the historically marginalized languages, appointing qualified isiNdebele language practitioners, ensuring that language practitioners do their jobs properly, developing a language policy for Mpumalanga and ensuring that a more representative public is engaged in isiNdebele language development debates