by Lerato Motsisi
Sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology scholar from the Tshwane University of Technology’s (TUT) Department of Applied Languages, Prof Thabo Ditselê, jumped at the opportunity to participate in answering the question on language and identity as well as share his research on Sepitori, at the thought-provoking Mzansi taal seminar: Language and identity “My taal, my identity”, hosted by the Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages at the University of South Africa (Unisa).
While wrapping his mind around the question of language and identity, Prof Ditselê asked himself these rhetorical questions: “If we agree that it is not difficult to spot people from greater Pretoria through speech, (when they speak Sepitori), why then do people insist that these very people cannot be Bapitori because they are assumed to be Bapedi, Batswana, Basotho, and more? Why do we readily accept that a Le Roux, De Klerk and Retief, can acknowledge their French heritage, but also say “I’m an Afrikaner now”?
Why is identity imposed on Black Africans and are they disqualified from saying “I’m a Mopitori of Pedi, Tswana or Sotho heritage?” What is the material difference between “an Afrikaner” and “a Mopitori” as far as identity is concerned? As the keynote speaker at the Unisa language seminar, Prof Ditselê approached the question with a fascinating presentation, titled “Guilt-tripping Black identities: Who is to determine what Sepitori is and what being Mopitori is?”
He started by giving examples of imaginary Pretoria residents, who do not speak the language of their heritage, such as Mashudu whose great grandparents were from Venda but he cannot strike up a conversation in Tshivenda and studied Setswana at school.
Prof Thabo Ditselê
“How many people would say that Mashudu’s parents should be ashamed of themselves for not sending him to schools where Tshivenda was taught as a home language,” Prof Ditselê asked the audience.
He asked these questions for the audience to start thinking about how White South Africans are allowed to adapt to new environments when forming an identity, whereas Black South Africans are forever challenged on who they say they are. This is perhaps because paternal lineage is perceived to be the most significant determinant of one’s identity. If one says that I am a Black South African, they are expected to identify themselves by their heritage from the father’s side of the family. “Such identity defines what language they should speak and what culture they should practise. Refusal to conform to these beliefs attracts negative judgments, ridicule, disassociation, and more,” said Prof Ditselê.
He continued that the Language Boards of Bantu languages (1960s), the Interim Constitution (Act 200 of 1993) and the 1996 Census, aggravated these long-held views. He supported this with an example that, if your “language” is Sepitori, you are told “it is not a language” (this is a coercion from South Africa’s 1960s’ posture).
The early forms of Sepitori as a lingua franca, can be traced to centuries back while research on it from as early as the 1950s through to the present sums it up as a language that is mutually intelligible with Setswana, Sepedi and Sesotho in greater Pretoria.
Prof Ditselê gave examples of sentences in Sepitori, which are related to, but not necessarily the same as those of Setswana, Sepedi and Sesotho. He contends that Sepitori is a language, spoken by Bapitori who identify themselves as such. “Arguing that it is not (or cannot be) a “language” is looking at the world through the eyes of the 1960s apartheid government, which is a subconscious promotion of a colonial viewpoint. Refusing them this right to determine who they are, is denying them their linguistic rights, which are human rights,” said Prof Ditselê.
He concluded by leaving the audience with yet another intriguing comment: “If you want to know who I am, ask me who I am and I will tell you. You do not have a right to tell me who I am or decide unilaterally that I do not know who I am.”
- Sepitori is fast becoming a first language, the urban lingua franca of Pretoria and the Tshwane metropolitan area in South Africa. It is not known how many people speak it, as it is mixed, informal language with Sepedi and Setswana. (Wikipedia)