On this day in history: Afrikaans declared an official language
On 5 May 1925, Afrikaans was declared an official language of South Africa.
According to Act 8 of 1925, Afrikaans became one of the official languages of South Africa. The development of the language can be traced to arrival of the Dutch settlers to the Cape. The language soon developed through its use by servants, slaves and indigenous traders to communicate with the Dutch. This is substantiated by the variety of influences present in Afrikaans.
These influences would include Khoisan, Malaysian, French, Dutch, English and German among others. This does not mean that the language is only limited to these influences, as various dialects are spoken all over South Africa, with the dominant indigenous language of a region influencing the dialect of Afrikaans in that region.
The popularity of Afrikaans and its subsequent endorsement by the Apartheid government was rooted in an attempted social engineering project. The Dutch population in South Africa sought to unify members of this group.
It aimed to build a South African nationalism that recognised their varied origins and one that emphasised a unique South African identity. However this identity was largely based on race and Afrikaans as a language thus became synonymous with white oppression in South Africa. Despite this attempt at creating a schism with regard to language and race among South Africans, Afrikaans is widely spoken by people of colour.
Source: SA History
