Language policy and planning in the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality: the challenges of implementation

Abstract

This study explores the challenges related to language policy and planning in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan municipality. The study sets to look at the at the challenges affecting successful implementation by the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality as a state organ charged with local development and service delivery for the communities. In terms of the Municipal Systems Act of 2000 municipalities are expected to respond to the language use and preferences of their local communities by making sure that their language policies are fully implemented. The researcher highlights that in instances where municipalities communicate information they are required to make special provision for the speakers of African languages in the communities that they serve in the languages they best understand. This work looks at various statutory language policy documents in South Africa in particular, that give the task of language policy implementation to municipalities as they are the local extension of the national government. This study also argues that municipalities are critical to implementation of language policy. It further notes that in order for the full social, economic and political transformation to take place in municipalities they have to be transformed linguistically in a radical way whereby all the official languages play a major role in all these spheres than before. This view is held by many scholars and researchers in the areas of language policy and planning. This study highlights that the challenges to successful language planning and policy in the government sectors are due to lack of commitment by the government, language practitioners and planners and increased monolingualism in the municipality. The study further explores the language policy and plan of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality and the the strategies that can contribute to successful optimization of language resources of the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality in order to give effect to the use of local languages as contained in policy documents and also establish how the city of Tshwane can better reinforce its strategies to implement this language plan and policy. The main focus area of this research is on the language policy and plan of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality and assesses whether the language practices in these institutions are reflective of their policy and plan. It is hoped that the study will be able to give policy makers and those tasked with implementation, especially at government municipalities' strategies for improvement in the functionality and the implementation of their language policies and plans. It is also hoped that recommendations and challenges highlighted by this research will be of a better assistance on how to better reinforce strategies to implement the language plan and policy in the government sectors.