Pretoria – With millions celebrating International Mother Language Day on Tuesday, Pretoria can pride itself in having its own language; Sipitori.
The day was proclaimed by Unesco in November 1999 and has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.
Residents in the capital’s townships speak Sipitori, a unique concoction of almost all official languages spoken in South Africa.
The language is as Pretorian as the famous jacaranda trees and Union Buildings.
Obakeng Mulaudzi, 23, of Mabopane, said his mother tongue was Tswana, but he embraced Sipitori more than he did his home language.
“I was born and bred in Mabopane, so the only language I grew up to speak and learn was Sipitori. The language spoken in the city has added to the definition of who I am and where I come from,” said Mulaudzi.
Jack Skosana, 26, of Soshanguve, said his mother tongue was Tsonga. However, he too spoke Sipitori more than his home language.
“It is almost the same; Sipitori is a mixture of many languages. That means I can speak it without abandoning my mother tongue all together,” said Skosana.
Mulaudzi shared the same sentiments, saying that Sipitori had a flavour of its own which was uniquely Pretorian.
To mark the day, the National Library of South Africa, celebrated under the theme, Towards a Sustainable Future through Multilingual Education.
The event was held in partnership with the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, Es’kia Mphahlele Community Library and Gauteng Department of Education.
The UN’s Information Centre librarian Hope Kabamba said it was important for an individual to embrace one’s culture. “We can’t embrace every language at the same time; having English as a national language does not mean that other languages are not important. Wherever we go there are different languages spoken,” said Kabamba. Any child who learned to speak in their mother tongue was able to become confident, she said.
“They write well, they understand the subject or content very well so as a result you find that they excel. By the time they go to other grades it will be easier for them to grasp other people’s languages, or indigenous, regional and even international languages,” said Kabamba.