The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, in collaboration with the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) and the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR) will on Monday, 16 March 2026, host the National Language Summit at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) in the Western Cape. The summit forms part of the country’s contribution to the International Decade of Indigenous Languages Global Action Plan, which seeks to raise awareness on indigenous language preservation, revitalization and promotion and to highlight the critical role of indigenous languages in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Under the theme “Towards a Unified National Language Landscape and Action Plan”, the two-day summit will bring together government representatives, language experts, academics, civil society, business leaders, and other stakeholders to address persistent challenges in multilingualism and advance the equal use and development of South Africa’s 12 official languages. Since 1994, South Africa has achieved considerable progress in dismantling race-based segregation and advancing constitutional rights. Yet the transformation of the national language ecosystem has lagged behind broader democratic reforms. Fragmented policy instruments, weak enforcement, and exemptions have resulted in uneven multilingual practice across the state and public-facing sectors (education, banking, health, private services, digital platforms). A unified, inter-sectional, cross-cutting, and enforceable national approach is required to embed multilingualism, resource African language development, and grow the digital presence and technology enabled vitality of indigenous languages in line with section 6(2) of the Constitution. This will culminate in the crafting of an inclusive national language policy framework that brings to expression the multilingual character of the rainbow nation.
Global trends of language endangerment limited online representation, and appropriation of indigenous cultural expressions further heighten the urgency. Languages are foundational to learning, citizenship training, identity, active participation, democratic legitimacy, and national cohesion. Languages enable social transformation and economic inclusion and therefore demand a coherent national language policy framework and investment in a sustainable digital linguistic ecosystem.
The Summit, therefore, aims to bring together key state actors to forge national consensus on a coherent, unified, and cross-sectoral enforceable national approach that enables social transformation and economic inclusion.
KEY AREAS THAT WILL BE COVERED DURING THE SUMMIT INCLUDE:
- Towards the establishment of a single, coherent national language policy framework applicable across sectors that will
- strengthen accountability, implementation, and enforcement mechanisms
- prioritize digitization, technology, and language modeling and innovation
- advance linguistic human rights in justice, health, education, service delivery and governance
- and build a sustainable digital cultural ecosystem centered on all official languages
The programme of this summit will feature discussions focused on critical areas such as: Language and Education, Language and the Justice System, Language and Service Delivery / Social Engagement, Language and Heritage, Language and Business, and Language and Health Science.
The expected outcomes of the summit include a Declaration that will capture national consensus on the recommended National Language Framework, consolidating cross-sector recommendations such as:
- The 2027 Language Summit
- A roadmap towards a draft National Language Policy,
- Sector-specific Action Plans (Justice, Education, Health, Business, Heritage, Service Delivery), Institutional architecture proposal for coordination and compliance,
- Legislative review recommendations (PanSALB Act, UOLA) and
- Digital and technology infrastructure strategy for language development.
This summit marks a pivotal step towards realising a truly inclusive, multilingual South Africa where all official languages thrive in policy, practice, in the digital era.
Media houses are invited to attend and cover the event. Accreditation and programme details will be communicated in due course
For media inquiries:
_________________________________________________________________________________
Ms Zimasa Velaphi, Head of Communication and Marketing: Department of Sport, Arts & Culture| Email: ZimasaV@dsac.gov.za | Cell: +27 72 172 8925
Ms Ntombentle Huluhulu, Head: Marketing and Communication: PanSALB Email: ntombi@pansalb.org Cell: +27 61 581 5216
Ms Lihle Sosibo, Communication Manager: SADiLaR | Email: lihle.sosibo@nwu.ac.za | Cell: +27 64 684 9281
_________________________________________________________________________________
