English in post-apartheid South Africa

In 1994, the National Party was ousted by the African National Congress in the country’s first democratic elections, and Afrikaans was deposed from its role as first official language. Along with English, Afrikaans was given legal status as one of eleven official languages. In reality, the decline of Afrikaans in public roles has been drastic, while the dominance of English is almost total, particularly in education, where it is by far the dominant medium of instruction of secondary and higher education. English is the language to aspire to in the New South Africa, even though it is the L1 of only 8.2% of the population (Census 2001 results). It is likely to retain this role for the foreseeable future.

Since 1994, English has only marginally increased as a home language among Black people, though an increase in this statistic among middle-class Black people residing in formerly ‘whites only’ suburbs is likely in the near future.

It is important to note that labels such as ‘White South African English’, ‘Black South African English’, etc. are not intended to reflect the apartheid classifications; however, owing to South Africa’s legacy, the correlations between ethnic affiliation and dialect of English remains significant. The old label, ‘South African English’, used to refer only to WSAfE as the source variety, and L2 varieties were given an additional descriptor: Black SAfE, Indian SAfE, etc. As these varieties become or show the potential of becoming first language varieties, SAfE is held over as a cover term (following de Klerk 1996), and all varieties of South African English are given a descriptor. WSAfE continues to be the standard, and, following the collapse of apartheid, children from ‘non-white’ communities who attend (prestigious) schools which uphold WSAfE norms are increasingly adopting these norms into their own speech. At the less prestigious end of the spectrum, WSAfE varieties tend to merge with the second language Afrikaans English (generally the norm of White Afrikaans – English bilinguals, or, in the Cape, so-called Cape Flats English, mainly associated with ‘Colored’ people. These labels reflect generalities, though, and are not in fact confined to apartheid-style ethnic groupings.

Regional variation in WSAfE is naturally associated with the strongest concentrations of White English speaking communities. These can broadly be divided into (Western) Cape, Natal and Transvaal (Gauteng) English, and recognizable Namibian and Zimbabwean varieties.