South Africa recognizes a total of 11 officially spoken languages, each of which is characterized by its own unique history, sonic aesthetic and individualized influence on musical culture. It is important to note that the apartheid regime only recognized English and Afrikaans, and the additional nine indigenous languages were not formally acknowledged until 1997. The following usage statistics were taken from the 2011 South African Census, which is the most recent data available and therefore might not be accurate as of 2019.
IsiZulu (Zulu)
Subfamily: Nguni
IsiZulu is spoken as a first language by more than three quarters of the population in KwaZulu-Natal. Zulu is the most dominant first language spoken among South Africans at just under 30% of the population. Dialects include Lala, Qwabe, Cele, Transvaal Zulu.
IsiXhosa (Xhosa, Koosa, Xosa)
Subfamily: Nguni
IsiXhosa is spoken as a first language by more than three quarters of the population in the Eastern Cape, and about a quarter of the Western cape population. Dialects include Mpondo (Pondo), Xesibe, Bomwana, Gaika, Gcaleka, Thembu, Mpondomise, Ndlambe.
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is clearly the dominant language of white South Africans (at a rate of about 60.8% white compared to only 1.5% black Africans). It’s also a very regionally concentrated language, with more than half of Northern Cape residents speaking Afrikaans as a first language.
Sepedi (Pedi, Transvaal Sotho, Sesotho sa Leboa, Northern Sotho)
Subfamily: Sotho-Tswana
Sepedi (or ‘Sesotho sa Leboa,’ as it is also commonly known) is spoken by over half of the Limpopo population, and is nationally the third most commonly used African language.
Setswana (Tswana, Sechuana, Chuana)
Subfamily: Sotho-Tswana
Setswana is the dominant language of the North West province, as well as the adjacent country of Botswana. By nature of its subfamily categorization, Setswana is more closely related to Sesotho and Sepedi than the other official South African languages.
English
Despite just under 10% of South Africans speaking English as a first language, English is the dominant language taught in schools beginning in grade 4. Some have speculated whether haphazardly forcing children to study in English, which is a second or even third language for most children, hinders their technical and creative progress. This has promoted projects such as Vuma and the Nal’ibali Project that consciously promote multilingual literacy among South Africans from an early age.
Sesotho (Southern Sotho)
Subfamily: Sotho-Tswana
Prevalent in Free State
Xitsonga (Tsonga, Shangaan, Shangana, Vatsonga)
Subfamily: Tswa-Ronga
Xitsonga is spoken in smaller distributions along northeast-bordering provinces of Mpumalanga and Limpopo (and to a lesser extent, Gauteng and North West provinces), as well as in the neighboring country of Mozambique.
SiSwati (Swati, Swazi)
Subfamily: Nguni
SiSwati, as a member of the Nguni subfamily, is categorized with isiZulu and X. It is most prevalent in the Mpumalanga province, where it is also the dominant language (at a rate of roughly 28% of the province population).
Tshivenda (Venda, Chivenda)
Subfamily: Sotho-Makua-Venda
Tshivenda is most prevalent in the Limpopo province, where it is the third dominant language (following Sepedi and Xitsonga).
'Other' (Unofficial Languages)
Other ‘unofficial’ languages spoken in South Africa (listed with their predominant regions of use) include:
- Birwa – Limpopo province: Capricorn district; near Zimbabwe border
- Camtho – Gauteng province: Soweto, Johannesburg; urban areas
- Flaaitaal – Urban areas
- Gail – Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and Western Cape provinces; urban areas
- Hindi – KwaZulu-Natal province
- Khoekhoe – Northern Cape province
- Korana – Northern Cape province
- Kung-Ekoka – Northern Cape province
- N||ng – Northern Cape province
- Oorlams – Mpumalanga province
- Pidgin Bantu – Gauteng province: suburban Johannesburg and mining areas
- Ronga – KwaZulu-Natal province
- Seroa – Free State province: Xhariep district; near Swaziland border
- South African Sign Language
- Swahili – KwaZulu-Natal province: Chatsworth 1, southwest of Durban proper on the coast
- Tamil – KwaZulu-Natal province
- Ungkue – Northern Cape province: Siya Themba municipality, near the confluence of the Orange and Vaal rivers
- Urdu – KwaZulu-Natal province: Durban coastal and urban areas; Gauteng province: Johannesburg area, and scattered smaller towns
- Xam – Northern Cape province
- Xegwi – Limpopo province
- Xiri – Northern Cape province: near Namibia border
- Yiddish, Eastern – Major urban areas
IsiNdebele (Ndebele, Southern Ndebele, Ndzundza, isiKhethu)
Subfamily: Nguni
IsiNdebele is most commonly found in Mpumalanga, though it is only the fourth dominant language spoken in the province (following siSwati, isiZulu, and Xitsonga).