A case for the use of Northern Sotho as an Official Indigenous Language in Capricorn District Municipality, Limpopo Province

Abstract

This paper strives to make a case for the use of Northern Sotho as an indigenous official language in the post-apartheid South Africa. It contends that though Northern Sotho is constitutionally accorded the status of an official language in the new South Africa, it is marginalised in its practical everyday use as other languages still dominate it. The paper utilised Capricorn District Municipality in Limpopo Province as a case study that is grounded on the Qualitative research approach. It is, furthermore, underpinned by Ethnolinguistic Vitality and Afrocentric theoretical assumptions. Sampled data was collected by interviewing 24 Northern Sotho participants in the Municipality and was thematically analysed through the transcription of those interviews. The findings revealed that Northern Sotho does not enjoy the status that the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996) has granted it. It recommends that this constitutional travesty be rectified by implementing the existing Language Policies as it erodes the identity of the marginalised speakers of the language.