The Queen’s language

As a student of communications, I have been exposed to the concept of multi and intercultural communications. When the concept was presented, I always thought what is the big deal? I recently attended a training session in Bandung, Indonesia on Climate change. The session was organised by LEAD international. About 150 participants attended the session. It was a high profile session, with participants from fields such as journalism, law, ICT, environment etc. I was amazed by the inability of these high profile delegates to interact and converse with fellow participants. I was looking forward to network and learn from the different fellows. To my surprise I learned that fellows preferred to stay in their country groups (me included). I thought to myself, the decision was strategic, as it eliminated the pressure from fellows to speak in the Queen’s language.

The inability to communicate was not due to English being my second language (truly speaking English is my 10^th language and Afrikaans becomes my 11^th). It was due to the fact that as nations we have our way of sending and receiving messages. The ways in which messages are encoded depends on various codes that are available in a specific community. These codes can be verbal or nonverbal. Language is often a common code that brings people together. In nations such as Indonesia, the local language is the medium of expression. The language is recognised as official, big corporates are not obliged to use english for sending and receiving messages. This was demonstrated by a visit to the Indonesia Power Station. One of the presenters prepared his presentation in the local language. Majority of Fellows from LEAD did not understand the local language. The presenter had to interpret his presentation in english, which saw him seeking support from his colleagues.

I was impressed and I thought, they value their local language to such an extent that they don’t have room for english, unless circumstances forces them. I was thinking to myself that, for me, mother tongue has been replaced by a foreign language. I have adopted the Queen’s language, it is so embedded in me to such an extent that when I think, dream, pray I do it in english.

During the session, I found myself struggling to grasp different presentations. My struggle was due to the fact that as nations we have our own accents. I then started to appreciate my African ( Khe Lobedu )accent. I listened to fellows from Russia, China, Nigeria, and I realised that it is ok, for me to speak English the way I do. I listened to the way the english language was being broken and I thought, my fellow South Africans will be amazed to hear the kind of english which is spoken at this level. I started thinking about the inferiority complex of South Africans towards their mother tongues. They always think that they have to speak the english language like they are from England. Some parents are very proud that their kids cannot speak their mother tongue. They actually encourage them not to speak their languages.

During the session, I appreciated being a South African. The appreciation was a realisation that being a multicultural country has greater benefits. Though english is my 10^th language, the Bandung session made me to appreciate my ability to converse with it. Imagine writing this article in my mother tongue and being unable to share my thoughts with other people, just because I cannot translate my thought in English. I witnessed a journalist who wrote a good article in French and wanted to share it with the world. This meant that the article should be translated to English. The problem was that the guy could not translate to English. He resorted to Google translation. I promise you, you don’t even want to think about the product after the translation. I found myself trying to edit the Google translation and it did not work. Again, not because of my english, this time because of the Google english. The guy never got the opportunity to share his views with the world. Don’t you think it is a disadvantage? If he was South African, he was going to be in a position to write in his mother tongue and also in English, which to me is more empowering.

Effective communication and public participation key to sustainable development: Case of Mamaila Village, Limpopo, South Africa.

For the past few months my life was very hectic, I did not get a chance to start writing about my views since I introduced the topic to you. If you read the Tiyani Letter you will understand what kept me busy, meeting assignments deadlines, taking care of the kids etc. Most importantly, I went away for a week to Malawi as part of the LEAD International capacity building programme, which is aimed at training future leaders for sustainable development.

The setup in Malawi, especially the Mangochi village looked familiar to me as it had characteristics of what my village (Mamaila) used to look like when I was growing up. This was the period between 1980-1995. Since then, so much has changed in my village. As a young girl I use to collect wood, water, wash my clothes in Mokgolotli river. Those were the times when the main activities in the village revolved around subsistence farming.

Today, the community setup looks like a peri-urban area. Young girls are no longer exposed to the brunt of walking long distances to collect water, wood, wash their clothes in Mokgolotli river, and guess what! there is a tar road which links the former Gazankulu and Venda home lands. I think if one looks at the changes in my community and assess them according to the Human Development Index, one can safely conclude that the community has developed. At this point I think I need to applaud the local councilors in my village for the job well done.

One can point the success of the development taking place in my community to the ability of the local councilors in engaging the community.During the 1990's there was only one primary school, situated in Setasene (section in the community were educated and middle class are mostly found in the village) , which was used by community leaders for holding mass meetings. I used to see members of the community both men and women, young and old flocking to the school. I will also know about these meetings because my uncle was a member of the committee. According to Robert Chambers in his book on rural development, putting the last first, in that kind of a setup, you will not see a poor person as they often reside towards the end of the village.
He argues that the houses next to the road are strategically located and often people staying there are educated. I agree with him as this was and still is the situation in my village. Almost all the houses in the main street have standpipes and a sewerage system in their yards, their kids have post matric qualifications; parents are employed as educators, clerks, health workers, extension officers etc. In actual fact I am one of them. I was the first girl to buy a car and within my age group, I am still the only girl owning a car.

I must also state that in my village, the councilors are able to supplement their communication strategy with the indigenous methods. This is done by targeting events such as funerals, were progress about development is given to the mass, meetings and upcoming activities involving the community are also announced. The beauty of this strategy is that information is not limited to people staying next to the main road and the educated. This is seen as an innovative way of information dissemination by the local councilors. The chief’s kraal in the village is a strategic place which is used by the councilors to disseminate information.


I hope councilors and communication practitioners in local authorities in other parts of the country will realize the value of communicating and engaging communities. This will require communicators to go back to the basics of communications, e.g. use of oral communications as opposed to print. Use of community resources as opposed to TV and internet.

The issues that I am raising here moves beyond the ability of my local councilors in engaging their constituents. Their efforts are appreciated, but one wonders as to what development entails. The fact that the village looks like a peri-urban does it mean that it is developed? If it is developed, why I'm I still the only girl owning a car? Why does the majority of girls don't have post matric qualifications? If it is developed, why do I still go to bury my peers due to HIV/AIDS. Why does the majority of households depend on pensioners for their livelihoods. What is going to happen to that family when the grandmother/father is no more?

The beauty of 21st birthday

Today I received a letter from one of my sisters, apparently the letter was unplanned. The original idea was to send an email about her little sister’s 21st birthday on Saturday. And if you are not aware like I wasn’t, Saturday is triple seven. What a blessing for my sister‘s baby sister because 7+7+7=21. It must be a special feeling to have such a great combination of numbers.

But anyway the gist of the letter as I understood it is about the challenges that women are faced with in this demanding world or rather in the world that we make it to be so demanding. These demands can be in a form of time management, finding oneself, spirituality, values, poverty, expression, relationships and one’s role in a society. At this point my sister will think that I am just mentioning poverty because they are never moments that we interact and not mention poverty and development.

Our challenge today as youth and women is how we handle the concept of materialism. The media is successful in projecting that materialism is more important and it is an indicator for success. This is exactly the reason why I find myself not sleeping at night. Everyday I go to sleep between 23h00 and 24h00 . What is it that I’m busy with? I am doing my honours degree in communication, it is so challenging. Mind you this is not my first post graduate. I have a B-Tech in Public Relations Management which is equivalent to BA Hons. Somehow I decided that B-Tech is not good enough.

Anyway, I think I am doing ok up to now. The other reason why I don’t sleep is because I am trying to establish my business (hoping that one day I will make it in the list of ama BEEs). I think you also know somebody within your circles who has a dormant Closed Corporation. I am a mother of two, Matete (7) and Bophelo (15 months). These two are the centre of my life; I can’t imagine the world without them. I mean the reason I sleep so late is because I was told that parents should work hard and make sure that when they die, they leave something behind for their kids.

My sister’s letter

The memo requests that we write a letter to a girl who is turning 21. The purpose is to tell this girl the truth about life. I don’t know if I am qualified to be telling anyone about the truth of life. I sometimes find myself questioning the whole universe. I grabble with issues of identity, relationship etc. But anyway, I can’t say what I know about life is the truth, is more about my experiences, observations, talking to people and knowledge gained from reading.

My sister suggests that we write about issues such as love, sex, relationship, money, beauty etc.

So this is my letter to Tiyani

Dear Tiyani

Turning 21st as Tinyeleti Manyeliti alluded to means that one is ready to face the world. I don’t know what people mean by that. In our country I think people begin to face the world at tender ages of 1 and even few days and months after leaving their mother’s wombs. We are faced with the plight of poverty, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, child headed families etc. So given these challenges, what is the beauty about turning 21?

Majority of the girls I know, don’t care about their 21st birthdays because there is nothing much to celebrate. They have more burning issues to tackle, like where their next meal will come from? And the fact that they don’t have a potential to get a job .We all know that at 21st birthdays parents get to tell the whole world about how perfect their child has been, now that she /he has a degree and has recently joined one of the top companies in the country and she/he recently bought a car (more emphasized if the car is a BMW) and she also bought a house in Sandton, Midrand etc?

I am not against people being successful. I think it is a good indicator of development. This is of course according to the Human Index Development Indicators, which are of course based on western values. As indicated above, I don’t sleep because I so want to make it in the list of the young and successful. I want to make sure that when I am no more, my kids will not live on less than $1 per day.

I didn’t not have a 21st party or a graduation party, so my mother did not get a chance to tell the whole community about me. I guess the quest to acquire material stuff is to make a statement. But at the same time I find myself wondering if all this material stuff matters. Does it represent who I am or do people get to misunderstand me and what I stand for as a person? Is it really fair to judge me based on my hair style (shaved head)? I recently changed my hairstyle to dreadlocks, now people are asking if I am a Rastafarian. Anyway what is wrong with being a Jawoman if you feel comfortable with it? The point I’m trying to make is that if I straighten my hair with chemicals which are not good for our environment I will be more appreciated.

But anyway Tiyani, let me not spoil your birthday. What I want to say to you is that thank God for who you are. Turning 21st in this crazy world is like a milestone other than moving out of your parent’s house and finding a decent job. Girls at your age are lying in hospitals; they are infected with HIV/AIDS. Some of these girls were robbed of their teenage and childhood by men who think they have rights to our bodies. Others (I don’t mean to be harsh) went out looking for it; they were so obsessed with material gains and life styles that they couldn’t afford. The easiest solution for them was to look for sugar daddies or become ladies of the night. Others of course were forced by conditions at home such living in abject poverty. I am not in a position to judge anyone about the issue of HIV/AIDS as we are all infected and affected by it. The point I am trying to make is that women often find themselves in situations that put them in vulnerable conditions.

In today’s demanding world and especially in South Africa, we have lost touch with our roots. The spirit of Ubuntu is dying and western values rule our lives. We have learned from our fellow being (western) that acquiring material gains is more important than loving yourself and those around you.

I have already indicated my lack of authority in telling anyone about the truth of life. The reason for this lack of authority is that I am also in a journey to uncover the truth. What I can tell you is that the first step towards realizing your potentials is to love yourself. I mean in every aspect. Don’t wait for your boyfriend/girlfriends to make you feel good.

I think the fact that you have turned 21 and working,you don’t have a child is a great accomplishment (apparently turning 21 and not having a child is one of the best indicators for a perfect child) .This standard has been set by the society. Ok I can’t help going back to the issue of challenges in our country, where girls and women are raped and become pregnant. According to this standard the girl who has been violated is excluded from the notion of being perfect? Is it fair for girls and women to be judged on issues of reproductive health and sexuality?

But any way, Tiyani, if I were to tell you my truth/experience, is that there is nothing liberating than being yourself. When you know who you are and what you stand for, it is easier to face the world. It means doing what makes you happy (not at the expense of other people), it is about the ability to celebrate life and appreciate your fellow beings, it is not about being arrogant and greedy. (I know that most of us want to belong to BEE clubs, and often we lose our values and our ubuntu during the process of becoming ama BEEs). It is about seeing things from your own perspective and also acknowledging that your perspective might not be the right one in a particular context. But most importantly, is about viewing the world from an African perspective.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND ALL THE BEST OF LUCK.

Love Ditshego

What is development communication?

According to the World Bank Development Communication is the integration of strategic communication in development projects.

The blog provide my views on development communication in South Africa. Special focus will be on Developmental local government.