Celani Sikhakhane
The Sotho-speaking communities in the rural KwaZulu-Natal town of Nquthu are concerned that too few local schools teach their children in their mother tongue.
They also complain that other government institutions are failing the Basotho community, because their communications are only in IsiZulu and English.
The Basotho are the oldest tribe in Nquthu. The Basotho population in Nquthu is 7%, according to Stats SA. Their chief is Bokang Molefe.
Rapelang Motloung, who is Molefe’s prime minister, said that they are facing a crisis, long in the making.
“It’s been years since Basotho started to fight this issue. But it has not been fixed till today. If I’m not mistaken, I think we have only one primary school that teaches our kids in Sesotho. Other schools are teaching our kids in IsiZulu. There’s no Sotho subject,” said Motloung.
The matter is now with the Pan South African Language Board (Pansalb), he said.
The only schools that are providing Sesotho subjects are Ikaheng Primary School, Tlokweng Primary and Leneha-Tumisang Secondary School. But these schools are only in one area in this northern KZN region.
Other areas in the region only cater for the IsiZulu language.
This crisis is disturbing, Motloung said, because the younger generation may end up addressing their ancestors in IsiZulu, not their mother tongue. This will cause many family problems.
The Department of Home Affairs has even changed their surnames into IsiZulu, he added.
“You will find that the Motloung surname is Ndlovu on the ID. The Motaung is Mndaweni. Kganya is Khanyi. This is very wrong and it needs serious intervention because we are gradually losing our identity,” said Motloung.
KZN education spokesperson, Muzi Mahlambi said the matter of the Basotho of Nquthu is being attended to.
“We are still looking at how we can resolve this issue. As the Department there are policies that we need to follow. We also have to check if it is financially viable to provide the language, including the number of learners that need Sesotho in Nquthu,” said Mahlambi.
