BAKALANGA TO TAKE GOVT TO COURT by EDWARD BULE | Last Updated October 03, 2013 08:52 | Ghetto Metro Bakalanga who attended the annual Domboshaba Festival of Culture and History (DFCH) over the weekend, resolved to take government to court for the latter’s refusal to re-introduce Ikalanga into the school curriculum. Commenting during the Open Forum activity, speakers expressed displeasure that their language had been confined to the private domain. They felt that something had to be done to reinstate it to the public domain after more than 40 years. Ikalanga was taught at some primary schools during the protectorate period only to be discontinued in 1972, six years after independence. When introducing the Open Forum, Professor Richard Tabulawa had reported that, since the last event, the Domboshaba Cultural Trust (DCT) had observed, with disappointment, a number of developments. “A motion seeking mother- tongue teaching was rejected by parliament. Our Members of Parliament rejected the motion on their own without consulting us the voters despite the fact that it is common knowledge that Bakalanga want their language taught. As we wanted to apply for a community radio station licence and again, it is clear that government is not keen on community radio stations. It is up to you to guide us with respect to the way forward,” said Prof. Tabulawa who is also the secretary general of the Society for the Promotion of Ikalanga Languag (SPIL). There was a clear division of opinion on the way forward with some people agitating for political action while others said it was too sensitive. At the end, the leadership agreed to lead the court action and leave politics to individuals. Among those favouring court action was Batshani Ndaba, the chairman of SPIL who urged Bakalanga to take the example of Bayeyi who took government to court over the chieftainship issue and won. Echoing Ndaba’s sentiments was Hlomani Nkhwa who doubted if the political option would work. Leshatho Kopelang opined that the time has come for Bakalanga to decide whether ‘diplomacy’ had borne fruit. “With respect to language rights, even Zimbabwe, with 13 official languages, is ahead of us, “he concluded. - The MidWeek Sun.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Oct 2013 05:35:02 +0000
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