Afrikaans Language Monument
Afrikaanse Taalmonument | |
 Obelisks of the Language Monument | |
 | |
| 33°45′57″S 18°56′33″E / 33.76576°S 18.94257°E | |
| Location | Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa |
|---|---|
| Designer | Jan Van Wijk |
| Type | Monument |
| Completion date | 1975 |
| Dedicated to | Afrikaans Language |
The Afrikaans Language Monument (Template:Lang-af) is located on a hill overlooking Paarl, Western Cape Province, South Africa. Officially opened on 10 October 1975,[1] it commemorates the semicentenary of Afrikaans being declared an official language of South Africa separate from Dutch. Also, it was erected on the 100th anniversary of the founding of Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (the Society of Real Afrikaners) in Paarl, the organisation that helped strengthen Afrikaners' identity and pride in their language.[2] The monument was used as a filming location for the Twelfth series of Doctor Who.
Structure
The monument consists of various tapering structures of a convex and concave nature, symbolising the influences of different languages and cultures on Afrikaans itself, as well as political developments in South Africa, as follows:
- Clear West – the European heritage of the language
- Magical Africa – the African influences on the language
- Bridge – between Europe and Africa
- Afrikaans – the language itself
- Republic – declared in 1961
- Malay language and culture
(There is also an open stadium at the bottom of the structure where concerts and events are held)
Plaque inscriptions
On a large plaque at the entrance are two quotations from prominent poets writing in Afrikaans:
- Afrikaans is die taal wat vir Wes-Europa en Afrika verbind... Dit vorm 'n brug tussen die groot helder Weste en die magiese Afrika... En wat daar groots aan hulle vereniging kan ontspruit – dit is miskien wat vir Afrikaans voorlê om te ontdek. Maar wat ons nooit moet vergeet nie, is dat hierdie verandering van land en landskap as't ware aan die nuwe wordende taal geslyp, geknee, gebrei het... En so het Afrikaans in staat geword om hierdie nuwe land uit te sê... Ons taak lê in die gebruik wat ons maak en sal maak van hierdie glansende werktuig... – N.P. van Wyk Louw
- "Afrikaans is the language that connects Western Europe and Africa... It forms a bridge between the large, shining West and the magical Africa... And what great things may come from their union – that is maybe what lies ahead for Afrikaans to discover. But what we must never forget, is that this change of country and landscape sharpened, kneaded and knitted this newly-becoming language... And so Afrikaans became able to speak out from this new land... Our task lies in the use that we make and will make of this gleaming vehicle..."
- As ons nou hier in die saal af 'n ry pale sou plant, tien pale, om die laaste tien jaar voor te stel, en aan elke paal 'n merk sou maak op 'n hoogte van die vloer af ooreenkomende met die betreklike skryfgebruik van Afrikaans in die respektiewe jaartal, en 'n streep deur die merke trek van die eerste af hier naby die vloer tot by die laaste daar anderkant teen die solder, dan sou die streep 'n snelstygende boog beskryf, nie net vinnig opgaande nie, maar opgaande na 'n vinnig vermeerderende rede. Laat ons nou in ons verbeelding die boog verleng vir die tien komende jare van nou af. Sien u menere waar die punt sal wees, daar buite in die bloue lug hoog oor Bloemfontein, in die jaar 1924. – C.J. Langenhoven
- "If we plant a row of poles down this hall now, ten poles, to represent the last ten years, and on each pole we make a mark at a height from the floor corresponding to the relative written use of Afrikaans in the respective year, and we draw a line, from the first here near the floor to the last over there against the loft, then the line would describe a rapidly rising arc, not only quickly rising, but rising in a quickly increasing manner. Let us now, in our imagination, extend the arc for the ten coming years from now. See you, sirs, where the point shall be, outside in the blue sky high over Bloemfontein, in the year 1924."
The phrase "DIT IS ONS ERNS" (roughly "we are earnest [about this]", or "this is our earnestness") is emblazoned on the pathway leading up to the monument.
Controversial renaming of the monument (removal of Afrikaans)
On 10 March 2022, Nathi Mthethwa, South African Minister of Arts and Culture instructed the management of the monument to remove the reference to Afrikaans in its name.[3] This was done without public consultation and forms part of a wider cultural assault on Afrikaans by the ANC government.
The ANC had previously tried to have Afrikaans declassified as an indigenous language, despite the fact that it is a language which was developed in the South African Cape and is only spoken in Southern Africa (other than by South African ex pat communities). The ANC were forced to back down when the Democratic Alliance (DA), the main opposition in party in South Africa, brought a PAIA application forcing the ANC to reveal that a legal opinion obtained by Blade Nzimande, Minister of Higher Education, had already confirmed that Afrikaans was an indigenous language.[4] Nzimande, together with Gauteng MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi, were spearheading a campaign to undermine the use of Afrikaans in schools and universities.[5]
The South African Constitution states that South Africa belongs equally to all who live in it. The Bill of Rights expressly states that the state may not discriminate against anyone on the basis of their language, culture, or race, and that everyone has the right to be educated in the official language of their choice so far as this is practically possible.
The motives for the ANC campaign to undermine Afrikaans are not entirely clear, but many in the organisation do not believe that South Africa belongs equally to all who live in it.[6] Despite the fact that many Afrikaners can trace their family heritage back thirteen generations[7] in what is now South Africa, they are regularly derogatorily referred to as 'settlers'[8] and told to 'go home'. Although once a multi-racial organisation, the ANC has lost almost all support among ethnic minorities,[9][10] and is increasingly racially nationalistic.[11]
Member of parliament Wynand Boshoff of the pro-Afrikaans Freedom Front Plus party said the efforts to rename the monument "show that the ANC government grudges minorities, and Afrikaans speakers in particular, having their own identity." He also said it was a "transparent attack on the culture of the people who speak the language and who hold it dear."[12]
Burgersdorp monument
The first monument to commemorate Afrikaans was the monument in Burgersdorp, which was built in 1893, although it refers to the Hollandse taal or the Dutch language. It depicts a woman pointing her finger at a book in her hands.
References
- ^ "Speech by the Minister of Art and Culture, N Botha, at the 30th anniversary festival of the Afrikaans Language Monument" (in Afrikaans). South African Department of Arts and Culture. 10 October 2005. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2009.
- ^ Charles S. B. Galasko. The Afrikaans Language Monument, Paarl. Spine 1 November 2008 – Volume 33 – Issue 23.
- ^ Dr Leon, Schreiber (21 May 2022). "DA protests plan to rename Afrikaans Language Monument". Democratic Alliance.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Dr Schreiber, Leon (11 May 2022). "DA secures historic victory by forcing the ANC to recognise Afrikaans, Khoi and San languages as indigenous". Democratic Alliance.
- ^ Freedom Front Plus (29 September 2020). "Lesufi's Attack on Afrikaans in Schools based on Falsehoods". Politicsweb. p. 1.
- ^ Lekota, Mosiuoa (19 February 2018). "Whose land will you take? Who is not 'our people'?". News24.
- ^ Khan, Razib (27 April 2010). "The ancestry of one Afrikaner". Discovery Magazine.
- ^ Malema, Julius (16 February 2022). "White people arrived in South Africa as settlers in 1652". Newzroom Afrika (Via Twitter).
- ^ Scholtz, Dawie (6 November 2021). "Why the ANC sleepwalked into a disaster". News24.
- ^ Haffajee, Ferial (23 May 2011). "How the ANC lost the coloured and Indian vote". News24.
- ^ "ANC stalwarts critique of current leadership". Ground Up. 16 December 2016.
- ^ "ANC demonstrates with Afrikaans Taal Monument that it grudges minorities their own identity". Freedom Front Plus. 25 May 2022.
