Reclaiming indigenous languages for posterity

Abstract

Two pieces of legislation and one policy framework inform the language policy in South Africa: Constitution of South Africa (1996); SA Languages Bill (2000); National Language Policy Framework (2003). All provide visions for a multilingual landscape in post-apartheid South Africa and aim at promoting and advancing linguistic and cultural diversity, because indigenous languages are closely tied to the richness of human diversity and indigenous knowledge (Tuhus-Dubrow 2002).