The Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) will, on Thursday, 8 May 2025, join the nation in commemorating a century since the official recognition and standardisation of Afrikaans as an official language. This milestone marks the passing of the Official Languages of the Union Act No. 8 of 1925 legislation that formally established Afrikaans, replacing Dutch as an official language of South Africa, alongside English with the exclusion of indigenous African languages.
Afrikaans emerged during the 18th century in the Dutch Cape Colony, evolving from Dutch dialects into a distinct language. Although often marginalised and referred to as “kitchen Dutch” (Afrikaans: Kombuistaal), it has since grown into one of South Africa’s most spoken languages, currently the first language of approximately 6.4 million people, or 10.6% of the national population and 60% of the native Afrikaans speakers are black and mostly Coloured in particular. Globally, around 7.4 million people speak Afrikaans as their mother tongue, with significant communities in Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini, and diasporas in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
“As we honour Afrikaans, we do so in line with our constitutional mandate to promote and protect all official languages in South Africa,” said PanSALB Board Chairperson, Prof Lolie Makhubu-Badenhorst. “Afrikaans continues to play a vital role in our social fabric, education system, and economic development. It is spoken in communities that actively contribute to the nation’s progress.”
Prof Makhubu-Badenhorst further emphasised that Afrikaans, like all South Africa’s languages, deserves equitable status and support: “Language is a fundamental part of our identity, culture, and heritage. Afrikaans is not the preserve of any one racial or ethnic group, but a shared linguistic resource shaped by all those who speak it.”
The celebration of this centenary also serves to promote multilingualism, linguistic diversity, and inclusive cultural expression. PanSALB recognises the historical context in which Afrikaans gained official status as a process that excluded non-white Afrikaans speakers and denied official recognition of the varieties spoken by majority speakers of the language. This painful legacy underscores the importance of celebrating Afrikaans in a way that honours all its speakers and all its varieties standard and non-standard alike.
The Afrikaans National Language Body (ANLB), a legislative PanSALB structure, has taken a clear stance on this inclusive vision. It acknowledges that the development of Afrikaans occurred within a broader context of systemic exclusion but affirms that today, no single variety of Afrikaans should be regarded as superior. The ANLB is the custodian of all Afrikaans varieties and remains committed to serving the full spectrum of the Afrikaans-speaking community.
PanSALB is encouraged by the inclusive direction of the Afrikaans 100 Roadmap. It notes with appreciation that the campaign recognises Afrikaans as a language that belongs to all its speakers, with roots stretching far beyond 1925. The recognition of contributions from historically marginalised communities such as the Khoi and San and enslaved people who shaped the earliest forms of Afrikaans is a step towards healing and unity.
PanSALB supports Afrikaans 100 initiatives that reflect this inclusive spirit and remain aligned with its vision of equitable language development across all of South Africa’s official languages.
