The Democratic Alliance has accused South African Tourism of discriminating against the Afrikaans language in an airport advertisement.
”I have today sent an urgent request to South African Tourism, asking them to remove their advertisement at Johannesburg International airport, which states by implication that Afrikaans is not an indigenous language to this country,” said DA MP Desiree van der Walt in a statement on Monday.
She warned that if it is not removed, the matter will be reported to the Advertising Standards Authority.
Van der Walt is of the opinion that the advert, with the words ”nine indigenous languages, 44-million people”, is grossly insensitive and a ”smack in the face of everyone who spoke Afrikaans”.
”Afrikaans is a unique language which started here in South Africa. The language, along with our 10 other official languages, enjoys the full recognition and protection of the Constitution.”
The Tourism Board has no authority to decide which languages are considered indigenous to the country, she said.
Marketing manager Roshene Singh said South African Tourism will not respond until it has officially received a complaint from the DA.
”As yet, we have only heard media reports,” she said. — Sapa