What Do People in South Africa Speak?

   
Check Online Application Status 2025-2026How to Apply Online 2025-2026Check Admission Requirements 2025-2026
Tvet Colleges Online Application Form

Bursaries Closing in January 2025

Application Forms 2025-2026

What Do People in South Africa Speak?

There are 11 official languages in South Africa as a result of the country’s ethnic melting pot, and the majority of the population is bilingual. Even though English is the dominant language in trade, government, and business, it is only the fourth most spoken language in the nation. Depending on the region of the country you are in, different languages will be spoken there more commonly.

What Languages Do People Speak in South Africa?

Post-apartheid South Africa is generally regarded as one of the most multilingual and multiethnic nations in the world. English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Ndebele, Zulu, Tswana, Swati, Sotho, Southern Sotho, Venda, and Tsonga are among the 11 official languages of South Africa that are recognized by its democratic constitution.

Are South Africans Fluent in Afrikaans?

Afrikaans, a language that was born and raised in South Africa and is intricately entwined with its history, is without a doubt a creation of that exceptional country that occupies Africa’s southernmost point.

Originally called “kitchen Dutch,” Afrikaans was a patois or perhaps a creolized dialect that was seen as “dirty” or of lower status and was largely used while communicating with slaves and domestic helpers. But with the arrival of the English in the Cape and the ensuing struggle for dominance in the region, the language evolved into a focal point and identity symbol for the white Dutch-descendant Afrikaners as they created a nationalist movement, which ultimately propelled them to power in 1948 and laid the foundation for the start of apartheid.

What language is spoken the most in South Africa?

The most common language in South Africa is IsiZulu, which is spoken by over a quarter (23%) of the population. Sesotho sa Leboa (9%), Setswana and Sesotho (both 8%), Xitsonga (4.5%), siSwati and Tshivenda (both 2.5%), and isiNdebele (2%), together with Afrikaans (13.5%), English (10%), and isiXhosa (16%), are our other official languages.

Which three languages are most widely used in South Africa?

Zulu (23%) and Xhosa (16%) are the two languages that South Africans use most frequently as their first language (14 percent).

Have South Africans developed a unique language?

Zulu. Zulu, known as isiZulu in South African English, is the most widely spoken language in South Africa, with well over 11.5 million native speakers. It is the most commonly spoken indigenous language in South

Overview of MBA
Choosing Your MBA
MBA Schools in SA
How to Apply

Read rhapsody of realities daily devotional

Rhapsody of Realities is a life guide that brings you a fresh perspective from God’s Word every day. It features the day’s topic, a theme scripture, the day’s message, the daily confession and the Bible reading plan segment. It is God's Love Letter to You!