THE CALL BY PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA FOR ALL SOUTH AFRICANS TO LEARN ONE OF THE OFFICIAL AFRICAN LANGUAGES WAS FIRST MADE 46 YEARS AGO BY INDIAN-ORIGIN TEACHER AND COMMUNITY LEADERS

                 (STORY I WROTE IN JULY 1974)

The call by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday ( December 13 2020) for South Africans to bridge the racial and cultural gaps by learning one of the official languages seems to have come 46 years after a similar call was made by leading Indian-origin educationists and community leaders. 
This call was first made in early July 1974 by the then president of the of the former South African Indian Teachers Association (SAITA), Mr R S Naidoo, and supported by a number of community leaders.
Mr  Naidoo called for the teaching of IsiZulu in all Indian-origin schools at that time so that the people would be able to interact and communicate better.
In his call to promote the Day of Recomnciliation, President Ramaphosa said learning another of the 11 official languages would help to promote cross-cultural understanding.
He said: “Reconciliation is a weighty concept, and there may be many who are unsure as to what they can actually do to advance racial reconciliation. We may feel reticent to take the first step or to reach out, for fear of being judged or even rejected.
“On this Reconciliation Day, I call on each of our citizens to think of the simple things they could do to reach out across the racial divide in their every day lives. One way of doing this is to learn another South African language.
“By trying to learn the language of your friend, your colleague, your neighbour, or the people you interact with daily in public places, you go beyond just demonstrating cross-cultural understanding.
You open up the space for real communication. We need to find ways to reach beyond our social and professional circles, to appreciate other people’s points of views.”
The call by President Ramaphosa is indeed what should be happening in reality in our every lives in our new non-racial and democratic South Africa.
It seems if the authorities in 1974 had listened to the pleas of the Indian-origin educational and community leaders at that time we would have been nearly five decades into speaking, communicating and interacting with our fellow South Africans in the majority language, particularly in KZN and in the Johannesburg-Pretoria region. 
At that time in 1974 I was working for the Daily News and had covered the meeting at the Durban City Hall where Mr Naidoo made his call. The story was published under the headline: “Teach Zulu in Indian schools, say teachers” on July 3 1974.

                     ‘TEACH ZULU IN INDIAN SCHOOLS, SAY TEACHERS”

The article read:

The President of the South African Indian Teachers’ Association, Mr R S Naidoo, has called for the teaching of Zulu as a third language in Indian schools.
Making his presidential address at the 48th annual conference of the association in the Durban City Hall, Mr Naidoo said that four fifths of the Indian population lived in Natal and, therefore, it was essential for all Indian school-children to be taught Zulu.

                   VITAL TO LIVE IN HARMONY

He said that as a minority group in a multiracial country, it was vital for the Indian community to live in harmony with all fellow South Africans on a basis of mutual respect.
“One of our biggest concerns here is the slowly diminishing number of contact points with our fellow South Africans and the effect of this isolation on our education and the choices available to our children.
“Getting to know the other man’s point of view and his way of life are important, and language is the effective means to this end.

                     LAST YEAR FOR LATIN

“This is the last year for Latin as a second language, and in effect almost all our children will be studying only the two official languages, English and Afrikaans,” he said.

          ZULU SHOULD BE A THIRD LANGUAGE

Mr Naidoo said that Zulu, numerically the most important black language, which was not being taught anywhere in Indian schools, should be added as a third language. 
There had also been a clamour for the introduction of Indian languages but to date no progress had been made, he said.
Mr Naidoo said that it was regrettable the University of Durban-Westville had not yet recognised the association as the official mouthpiece of Indian teachers.
“The SAITA is officially recognised and serves on several statutory professional committees covering teacher-training, examinations, subject programmes and libraries.
“The voice of the Indian teacher is heard and it has been conceded that he has made some useful contributions.
“Teacher training, however, is not controlled by the Department of Indian Affairs alone. A substantial part of it is in the hands of the UDW which has been in existence for some 13 years.
“There is no such recognition of SAITA by them in their faculty of education, although we are the only body of Indian teachers in this country and as such are directly involved in their practical teaching programmes in our schools.” Ends – M. Subramoney July 3 1974

(Story published on October 12 1974)

TEACH OUR CHILDREN ZULU, SAY INDIAN PARENTS

Over the next three months, I took up the call of Mr Naidoo and talked to community leaders.  The unanimous view of all the people I spoke to was that the learning of Zulu will provide an opportunity for future generations to interact and communicate better with our fellow African citizens.
I wrote an article about this and it was published on October 12 1974 under the headline: “Teach our children Zulu, say Indian parents”.

The article read:

Indian teachers and parents are anxious that Zulu be taught as a third language in Indian schools.
This is the finding of a Daily News survey conducted among leading members of the Indian community who felt that a stand must be made for Zulu to be introduced as a language. 

LEARNING OF ZULU WOULD LEAD TO BETTER COMMUNICATION, GREATER UNDERSTANDING AND RESPECT BETWEEN THE AFRICAN AND INDAN COMMUNITIES

The Indian leaders were of the opinion that it was important for Indian children to learn Zulu because it would lead to better communication, greater understanding and respect between the African and Indian communities.
The Indian leaders claimed that separation of the racial groups led to ignorance and confrontation. The Zulu language would be the binding influence between the minority groups and the majority of the people of South Africa.

                     HARMONY

The president of the South African Indian Teachers’ Association, Mr R S Naidoo, who made the call early this year, said today that his association would make the request to the Department of Indian Education in the next week.
“As the smallest minority in South Africa it behoves us to live in harmony with our fellow South Africans, on the basis of mutual respect,” he said.

TEACHING OF ZULU IN INDIAN SCHOOLS – LONG OVERDUE

The outgoing Indian Council Executive member, Mr Y S Chinsamy, said it was long overdue for Zulu to be taught in Indian schools.
Mr Chinsamy, who is a grantee of three Indian schools in Verulam with more than 35 years of service to Indian education, said that he fully supported the stand by the teachers’ association.

                         EXCELLENT

The chairman of the Natal Association of Indian Education Committees, Dr Fatima Mayat, said that it was very important for Indian children to know Zulu.
“It is an excellent idea for Zulu to be introduced in schools,” she said.
The Director of Indian Education, Mr P W Prinsloo, said that if a request was made for Zulu to be introduced in Indian schools, it would be considered just like any other subject.
“It will first have to be sanctioned by our examination board and then by the Joint Matriculation Board in Pretoria.
“I don’t know if it will be approved or not,” he said. Ends – Marimuthu Subramoney October 12 1974

Twenty five years later in 1995, one year after the attainment of our non-racial democracy, I interviewed the first MEC for Education in KwaZulu-Natal about the need for Zulu being taught in all schools. I had joined the SABC in Durban as a senior political journalist about six months earlier and was determined to see if the new leaders would show any understanding of the need for Zulu to be one of the languages taught in schools.
I was covering an official event in Port Shepstone where the Education MEC was the main guest speaker. 
At the conclusion of the event, I approached the MEC and requested to talk to him about an important education matter. He was not too happy that I was not just covering his event but was also keen on talking to him about another matter.
He said: “I am very busy but will give you a few minutes.”
I told him about the importance of Zulu as a medium of communication in KwaZulu-Natal and asked him whether he would be doing anything to promote Zulu as one of the languages to be taught in all schools in the province.
His response was really thought-provoking. He said: “If anyone wants to learn Zulu then they must do it on their own.”
I was taken aback but asked him whether he did not realise that that Zulu was a major language of communication in the province and it was vital for harmonious relationship between all the people. He did not respond but just looked at me.
When I returned to the SABC offices in Durban I wrote a script and recorded a radio feature on my interview with the MEC and the importance of Zulu being taught in schools.
There was very little reaction from the powers to be at that time and I did not take up the matter any further.

The latest call by President Ramaphosa demonstrates the ignorance of the former apartheid regime and some of the early leaders in 1994 who failed to failed to see the importance of African languages being taught in schools.
I understand Zulu is now being taught in schools in KwaZulu-Natal but whether its importance is being emphasised is another matter altogether. Ends – subrygovender@gmail.com December 14 2020