| What is the role of PanSALB? |
PanSALB or the Pan South African Language Board was established by parliament (Act 59 of 1995, amended by Act 10 of 1999) to:
The constitution makes reference to the establishment of PanSALB in Section 6 when describing language rights. The PanSALB Act mandates that it initiate studies and research aimed at promoting and creating conditions for the development of all 11 official languages, plus the Khoe, San and South African sign language. There has been criticism leveled at PanSALB in particularly in this academic study entitled, "The Case of the Toothless Watchdog". Which states, "This article concludes that PanSALB does not give incentive to ethnic mobilization, but fails to protect language rights, and, as a structure, serves to co-opt civil society and help make ‘docile bodies’ of ordinary citizens. And it would seem that not much research activity (last updated 2000) or for that matter activity on the website (documents still refer to the Department of Arts Culture Science and Technology which split into two departments: Arts and Culture; and Science and Technology on 1 August 2002) |
