Oh Grahamstown. You town of beauty, historical magic moments and diversity. Yes, diversity, the nine letter word the South Africa prides itself in.
There’s a problem though; half of the time I do not know, andiyazi, what people are saying. A woman in the street says something to me in Xhosa, I only understand one word out of her entire sentence.
Oh Grahamstown. You town of beauty, historical magic moments and diversity. Yes, diversity, the nine letter word the South Africa prides itself in.
There’s a problem though; half of the time I do not know, andiyazi, what people are saying. A woman in the street says something to me in Xhosa, I only understand one word out of her entire sentence.
Wait, I think she is telling me that she loves me. No, that can’t be right, she is selling CDs. This is the daily challenge that most of us here in this beautifully diverse town are faced with.
There are students from as far as the US of A, there are families living here that come all the way from Pakistan and we have a few Afrikaans people too.
All in all we have about five different languages operating in this little town so trying to understand each other can be as complex as trying to understand the synchronisation of the traffic lights at Church Square.
Very often council meetings (which are supposed to be open for the public) are conducted in a language that suits the majority, but excludes the minority.
Language, just like in apartheid days, has become a dividing tool among people. So whose fault is it? Is it my fault for not understanding a language indigenous to this town and province, or is it everyone else’s fault for not considering the linguisticallychallenged?
With all due respect, I understand the plight of those who do not speak Xhosa, just as much as I understand the plight of those who do not speak English.
As difficult as it is for me to understand Xhosa, it is just as hard for non-English speakers to understand my colonial English tongue.
There is not much we can do about the situation, that is the situation of dealing with five languages in a town as quaint as Grahamstown.
And even though language can become a dividing agent, it should not be used as bullets in our battle for the (not so) new South Africa.
So how do we overcome this challenge of language? Until I have learned the to speak Xhosa, my answer to you is simply: andiyazi – I do not know.
