The politics of standardising Bantu languages in South Africa

This article discusses the essential need for developing the Bantu languages of South Africa into fully-fledged standard languages. Departing from the standard definition of standard language, and emphasising the notion of fully-fledged standard language, it points out – with reference to communities' negative attitudes to the prescribed ‘standards’, the lack of competency in these varieties, the use of urban vernaculars (even in school contexts) and the preference for English as ‘symbol of prestige, eloquence and beauty’ – that the Bantu languages still need considerable development. The article then discusses the factors which impact on standardisation; the processes involved (top down, bottom up); and the agencies necessary for the development of standard varieties. A series of questions conclude the article: how supportive are the post-1994 contexts of the development of Bantu languages? Are there activists and NGOs who can drive these developmental processes? Why is there so little community pressure in this regard?