'Afrikaans not marginalised'
2005-05-24 13:19
Pretoria - Marginalising Afrikaans would be a crime against the Constitution, deputy president Jacob Zuma said in Pretoria on Tuesday.
"The Constitution protects all languages. If we were to marginalise Afrikaans, we would be committing a crime," he said after meeting the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities.
English and Afrikaans were the most-promoted languages in the country. All that was happening now was the promotion of other official languages as well, Zuma said.
Commission chairman Mongezi Guma said the challenge facing South Africans was finding a place to fit in and be comfortable with all the freedoms given to them.
"We need to work on nation building. We need people to feel comfortable to speak their languages, express their traditions and practise their religions - not in an exclusive way but to use that as a bridge to others," Zuma said.
- SAPA