Department of Arts and Culture PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE: ARTS AND CULTURE ON THE SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGES BILL NOVEMBER 2011 MR SIBUSISO XABA DIRECTOR GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND CULTURE

BACKGROUND  Section 6 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 108 of 1996 provides for the establishment and protection of languages. In short, it provides for:  the establishment of eleven official languages;  Obligates the state to take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and advance the use of indigenous languages;  places an obligation on national and provincial governments to use at least two official languages for the purposes of government; and  places an obligation on national and provincial governments to regulate and monitor their use of official languages by legislative and other measures; 2

BACKGROUND CONT…  The obligation on the Minister of Arts and Culture is derived from section 6(4) which provides that: “The national government and provincial governments, by legislative and other measures, must regulate and monitor their use of official languages. Without detracting from the provisions of subsection (2), all official languages must enjoy parity of esteem and must be treated equitably.” Own emphasis  Therefore, the obligation on the Minister of Arts and Culture in terms of the Constitution is to:  Promulgate legislation to regulate and monitor the use of official languages by government for government purposes; and  Implement other measures to regulate and monitor the use of official languages in government. 3

BACKGROUND CONT…  In 2003, Cabinet approved the National Languages Policy Framework and its Implementation Plan;  The Implementation Plan provided for the promulgation of the South African Languages Act to regulate and monitor the use of official languages by government;  In 2004, the Department submitted the Bill to Cabinet but the Bill was not approved;  Cabinet requested the Department to explore other alternative non- legislative means of regulating and monitoring the use of official language. The Department consulted with the Departments of Justice and Constitutional Development, Basic Education and Health. 4

PROGRESS MADE SINCE 2004 ON EXPLORING NON- LEGISLATIVE MEASURES  The Implementation Plan of the National Languages Policy Framework provides for practical measures on the use of official languages by government and how the use of different official languages can be regulated.  The following are some of the measures implemented by the Department in order to regulate and monitor the use of official languages through non- legislative means:  Consultations with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development have been held to promote multilingualism in courts;  The implementation of the Human Language Technology (HLT) projects in conjunction with the CSIR; 5

PROGRESS MADE SINCE 2004 ON EXPLORING NON- LEGISLATIVE MEASURES CONT…  The Department has identified and outlined the nature and function of the structures responsible for promoting the use of official languages and promotion of multilingualism.  Such structures are identified as, inter alia, the Pan South African Language Board, the Provincial Language Committees, the National Lexicography Unit and the Hansard.  Other measures are implemented through facilitation of terminology development, translation and editing, awareness campaigns and language surveys. There are also other means such as the Telephone Interpreting Service of South Africa and the terminology dictionaries, that the Department has implemented since

JUDGMENT: LOURENS v THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA  Mr. Lourens brought an application in the Northern Gauteng High Court to determine whether:  National Government complies with its obligations in terms of section 6(4) of the Constitution; and  Parliament should be ordered to comply with certain language requirements.  Mr. Lourens sought in the main, three forms of relief:  That the President of the RSA, the Ministers of Arts and Culture and of Justice and Constitutional Development be ordered to finalize and promulgate a national language act as required by the Constitution; 7

JUDGMENT: LOURENS v THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA CONT…  That the President or the Ministers should order a language audit of the national government departments; and  That Parliament be ordered to publish all legislation in all official languages, retroactively to  The Court found in terms of prayer one that, while the adoption of a national language act is not a Constitutional obligation, it however in the alternative made an order that national government is failing to regulate and monitor through legislative and other means, national government’s use of official languages in terms of the Constitution  With regards to prayer two, the Court found that Mr. Lourens did not show any Constitutional provision which imposed an obligation on government to conduct an audit.8

JUDGMENT: LOURENS v THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA CONT…  The Court agreed with Mr. Lourens with regards to prayer three that statutes should be translated into all official languages but found that there is no Constitutional provision that imposes the translation obligation on Parliament.  To the extent that the Court ordered the Minister of Arts and Culture to comply with the provisions of section 6 of the Constitution, it ordered that such obligation is to complied with within two years from the date of the order (March 2010).  To this end and to comply with the Constitution, the Department has drafted the South African Languages Bill, The provisions of the Bill are outlined in the following slides: 9

THE SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGES BILL  The South African Languages Bill will provide for, inter alia:  The regulation and monitoring of the use of official languages by national government for government purposes;  The adoption of languages policies; and  The establishment and functions of language units.  The objects as provided for in Section 2 of the Bill are:  To regulate and monitor the use of official languages for government purposes;  To promote parity of esteem and equitable treatment of the official languages;  To facilitate equitable access to the services and information; and 10

THE SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGES BILL CONT…  To promote good language management by the national government for efficient public service and administration.  The Bill applies to all national departments, national public entities and national public enterprises. (Section 3)  Section 4 provides that every national department, national public entity and national public enterprise shall adopt a language policy within eighteen months of the commencement of this Act. The policy must, amongst others:  Comply with the provisions of section 6(3) of the Constitution;  Identify at least two official languages that the department or entity will use for purposes of government; 11

THE SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGES BILL CONT…  Describe how members of the public can access such policy;  Describe how the department or entity will communicate with members of the public where their language of choice is not an official language of such department or entity; and  The policy must be made available on request to members of the public and a summary of such policy must be displayed at all offices in such manner and place that it can be read by members of the public. 12

THE SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGES BILL CONT…  Section 5 provides for the establishment of the national language unit in the Department of Arts and Culture and obliges the Minister to ensure that such unit is adequately resourced for its effective functioning.  Section 6 provides for the functions of the national language unit which include:  Advising the Minister on matters of policy and strategy to meet the Constitutional obligations;  Liaison with and co-ordination of other language units established in terms of section 7; 13

THE SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGES BILL CONT…  Promotion of parity of esteem and equitable treatment of all official languages; and  Promotion of good language management by departments and public entities.  Section 7 provides for the establishment of language units in every national department, national public entity and national public enterprises and obliges such department or entity to ensure that the unit is provided with personnel, administrative and other resources as may be necessary to perform its functions. 14

THE SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGES BILL CONT…  Section 8 provides for the functions of language units in every department, national public entity and national public enterprise. Such functions include, inter alia,  Advising the responsible accounting officer or accounting authority on the development, adoption and implementation of the language policy;  Compiling of reports that are to be submitted to the Minister in terms of section of this Act; and  Promoting parity of esteem and equitable treatment of the official languages.  Section 9 places the responsibility of monitoring the use of official languages for government purposes on the Minister responsible for Arts and Culture and provides for the submission of reports by every national department and public entities to the Minister for monitoring purposes. 15

THE SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGES BILL CONT…  Section 10 provides that the National Language Unit as established in terms of section 5, may, through the Minister, request Cabinet to intervene in cases where a particular department or entity does not comply with the provisions of this Act.  The Minister shall, in terms of Section 11, table a report on the status of the use of official languages for government purposes to Parliament, on an annual basis.  Section 12 provides that the Minister may establish intergovernmental forums on the use of official languages to promote general co-ordination, co- operation and consultation between the various departments and entities.  Section 13 provides that any department or a (PFMA) listed public entity may apply to be exempted from the application of section 7. 16

THE SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGES BILL CONT…  Section 14 provides that the Minister may, after consultation with the Pan South African Language Board, make regulations that are not inconsistent with this Act. Such regulations may provide for:  The form and content of language policies;  Timeframes for establishing language units;  Form and content of reports contemplated in section 9;  The manner, form and timeframes for submitting applications for exemptions in terms of section 12; and  Any other matter that the Minister may deem necessary in terms of the Act.  Section 15 provides for the short title and commencement date of the Act. 17  Section 13 provides that the National Language Unit as established in terms of section 5, may, through the Minister, request Cabinet to intervene in cases where a particular department or entity does not comply with the provisions of this Act.  The Minister shall, in terms of Section 11, table a report on the status of the use of official languages for government purposes to Parliament, on an annual basis.  Section 12 provides that the Minister may establish intergovernmental forums on the use of official languages to promote general co-ordination, co- operation and consultation between the various departments and entities.  Section 13 provides that any department or a (PFMA) listed public entity may apply to be exempted from the application of section 7.

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