For a quality debate
? To mimic the United States? It is the ANC and not the president that has a pact with the electorate. Change the electoral system if you want to foreground individuals ("<a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2012-10-19-00-ten-things-about-presidential-debates" target="_blank">10 things about presidential debates</a>", October 19).
For a quality debate, parties should give us their best debaters and each must debate in a language of their choice, as is their right.
The assumption is that a debate between Zuma and Zille would be in English. But it is oppressive to impose a single language out of a possible 11. If you took away the linguistic advantage and thus levelled the playing fields, the strident calls for a debate might not be so strong.
Language can make a fool look smart and a smart person look foolish. The moment you speak English, you bow and kowtow to the master and to the values and world view embedded in the language.
I am not against any particular language, but I do become concerned when language becomes an agent of disempowerment. – Dr Masitha Hoeane, Pretoria East