Zukiswa Wanner Explores the Politics of Language and Class in South African Education

Zukiswa Wanner, author of Men of the South and The Madams, has written an article for Guernica in which she explores how the politics of class and language have weighed down South Africa’s education system.

One of the problems identified by Wanner is what she calls “politicizing language”. While she sees the value of teaching students in their mother tongue, she stresses that English instruction is vital for a student’s future in higher education.

Wanner’s article is from a collection of essays about education systems around the world, commissioned by Guernica‘s Writers Bloc project:

During the course of my research on education for Writers Bloc, I went to the North West of South Africa with a friend. Her sixteen-year-old sister, who was in Grade 10, had written a list of some school necessities she needed her to purchase. The list read:

Maths set
HB Pencils
Pens
3 A4 Notebooks
1 A3 Notebook
Dikishinari

My friend, in her sister’s presence, showed me this list. I asked the young girl about the spelling of “Dikshinari.” “I was just joking. I decided to spell it in seTswana.”
I gave her a paper and a pen. “Could you spell it in English for me this time around?” She did not do much better. “Dikshinary” is what she wrote.

• Complete article: Guernica

Book details

• Men of the South by Zukiswa Wanner
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  EAN: 9780795702983
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Photo courtesy Geosi Reads

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