Charlize Theron underneath hearth over Afrikaans ‘a dying language’ feedback

By AFP

JOHANNESBURG: Oscar-winning actor Charlize Theron has sparked a firestorm in her native South Africa for suggesting that Afrikaans, a language descended from Dutch settlers, was heading for oblivion.

“There’s about 44 people still speaking it — it’s definitely a dying language, it’s not a very helpful language,” the 47-year-old actor stated Monday on a US podcast, “Smartless.”

By Thursday South Africans took to Twitter to voice outrage or help.

“Wow what a disrespectful comment to the millions of South Africans of all ages, races…that speak Afrikaans as their first language,” stated @Juleanor.

“Thank you Charlize Theron – that…racist language is dying and shouldn’t even be recognized,” stated @SaboSizwe, in distinction.

One of 11 official languages in South Africa, Afrikaans is usually utilized by round 12 p.c of the inhabitants of practically 60 million.

Laws imposing Afrikaans performed a job within the oppression of black residents throughout the apartheid period, and the language stays controversial in some sectors of society immediately.

A lawmaker from the opposition radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) celebration tweeted in help of Theron’s remarks, however the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), a small rightwing and predominantly white Afrikaner celebration, stated she was misguided.

“She is not up to date with what is going on in her country of birth,” it stated in a press release.

The Hollywood star was born in Benoni, a suburb 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Johannesburg, and moved to the United States nearly 30 years in the past.

She stated she did not converse English till she was 19 as a result of “nobody” in her predominantly Afrikaans neighbourhood spoke it.

Afrikaans is descended from Dutch spoken by settlers who started to reach in South Africa within the mid-Seventeenth century.

Its centuries-long historical past in South Africa has sparked debate as as to if it needs to be thought of an indigenous or imported language.

It is the nation’s the third most spoken language after Zulu, which is utilized by round 25 p.c of the inhabitants, and Xhosa, spoken by practically 15 p.c, based on official statistics.

In 2020, a courtroom overturned a call by one among South Africa’s largest universities, the University of South Africa (UNISA), to abolish courses taught in Afrikaans.

JOHANNESBURG: Oscar-winning actor Charlize Theron has sparked a firestorm in her native South Africa for suggesting that Afrikaans, a language descended from Dutch settlers, was heading for oblivion.

“There’s about 44 people still speaking it — it’s definitely a dying language, it’s not a very helpful language,” the 47-year-old actor stated Monday on a US podcast, “Smartless.”

By Thursday South Africans took to Twitter to voice outrage or help.

“Wow what a disrespectful comment to the millions of South Africans of all ages, races…that speak Afrikaans as their first language,” stated @Juleanor.

“Thank you Charlize Theron – that…racist language is dying and shouldn’t even be recognized,” stated @SaboSizwe, in distinction.

One of 11 official languages in South Africa, Afrikaans is usually utilized by round 12 p.c of the inhabitants of practically 60 million.

Laws imposing Afrikaans performed a job within the oppression of black residents throughout the apartheid period, and the language stays controversial in some sectors of society immediately.

A lawmaker from the opposition radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) celebration tweeted in help of Theron’s remarks, however the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), a small rightwing and predominantly white Afrikaner celebration, stated she was misguided.

“She is not up to date with what is going on in her country of birth,” it stated in a press release.

The Hollywood star was born in Benoni, a suburb 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Johannesburg, and moved to the United States nearly 30 years in the past.

She stated she did not converse English till she was 19 as a result of “nobody” in her predominantly Afrikaans neighbourhood spoke it.

Afrikaans is descended from Dutch spoken by settlers who started to reach in South Africa within the mid-Seventeenth century.

Its centuries-long historical past in South Africa has sparked debate as as to if it needs to be thought of an indigenous or imported language.

It is the nation’s the third most spoken language after Zulu, which is utilized by round 25 p.c of the inhabitants, and Xhosa, spoken by practically 15 p.c, based on official statistics.

In 2020, a courtroom overturned a call by one among South Africa’s largest universities, the University of South Africa (UNISA), to abolish courses taught in Afrikaans.