Conrad Sidego, chairman of the Stigting vir die Bemagtiging deur Afrikaans(Foundation for Empowerment through Afrikaans), has come a long way since his younger days as the first coloured journalist at Die Burger, where non-whites were not allowed in the tea room.
“As Afrikaans speakers, we are getting comfortable in our skins. But, it was not always like that. My own relationship with the Afrikaans media, dating back to my appointment as journalist at Die Burger, 35 years ago, was rather uncomfortable,” says Sidego, who last year retired as senior general manager of Corporate Affairs at Media24.
He says he entered journalism at a time when Naspers was ready to delve into the “coloured market” with the so-called Ekstra editions. And even though the former teacher was ready for journalism, he’s not sure Afrikaans journalism was ready for him.
“With the policies of separate development and separate amenities strictly in place and enforced, how the heck do you accommodate a newly employed coloured in an all-white office – a first for an Afrikaans newspaper?
“And what do you do when he needs a toilet? Ouch, a huge challenge! A government could fall if we eroded the pillars of its policies by mixing colours in tea rooms and toilets,” recalls Sidego who was eventually allowed into the men’s room but never got to see the inside of the tea room.
“Instead of using the not-so-smart facilities for the messengers, I dashed down Keerom, Wale, Adderley and Darling Streets to the Grand Parade! And back… But eventually you learn not to have too much tea during the day from that Greek corner café.”
To add insult to injury, he had to take flak from his counterparts at the English press for working for the boerekoerant.
“Anything else would have been better – the perceived more liberal English Extra or something like the mainly ‘blood and guts’ paper, The Cape Herald! My fervent wish was just to become a journalist and being Afrikaans, Die Burger was my only chance.”
Now 35 years later, Sidego (59) is just as passionate about the future of Afrikaans as he was as a young reporter.
“This anxious debate about the future of Afrikaans should now really begin to die down. Yes, unfortunately the language is still carrying some political scars and self-inflicted wounds. The healing process is no doubt underway and the healthy debate is part of the process,” says Sidego.
Afrikaans speakers are becoming more comfortable with using their language, he believes, attributing it to the “palatable” attitude and tolerance shown by many of its earlier opponents, blacks and whites alike, since the advent of democracy.
“This, despite the taaldebat (language debate) at Stellenbosch and sometimes heated arguments on letter pages in our publications.”
However he acknowledges that the taal sometimes still struggles to shed its image as the language of oppressors.
“Sadly, the June l976 riots in Soweto is closely linked to Afrikaans and the fact that it was forced down the throats of black pupils, remains an albatross,” says Sidego.
“This is the kind of political stain that blemishes Afrikaans and continues to haunt it.”
But he brushes aside suggestions that the Afrikaans language is endangered, saying that the growth of Afrikaans publications and the mushrooming of new ones is proof that the language is well and prospering.
“Afrikaans is actually doing very well. Maybe my perspective is ‘ink-stained’ by my exposure up to recently in the Media24 stable where I saw so many initiatives coming to fruition in terms of publications, including those aimed at the Afrikaans market,” says Sidego.
He cites the success of the exclusively Afrikaans channel KYKnet on DStv as a prime example.
“I believe Afrikaans will still remain a gold reef to be mined long into the future. We have about six million people who speak the language. Of these, 56 percent are coloured or black and the fact that the University of the Western Cape had the largest Afrikaans Department in the country during the seventies, bears testimony to this.”
Sidego also credits tabloid newspapers such as the Son for targeting sections of the population that otherwise would not have been part of the reading public.
“Many of us might not, for instance, queue up for our daily fix from pages of the less sophisticated style and content of the Son tabloid newspaper, but it is a brand of Afrikaans that sells. It unearthed a new niche market.”
Sidego, who was editor of Rapport Ekstra for 14 years (where he secretly removed the whites-only notice from the men’s room), also served as South Africa’s ambassador to Denmark and Anglo American’s corporate communications manager before moving to Media24.
“Through all of this I was part of the process of developing the penetration into what was then rather uncharted waters. Very many journalists came after me and today Henry Jeffreys is the editor of Die Burger, a far cry from the ‘good old days’ in Keerom Street,” says Sidego.
“Jeffreys, himself a man who started his career with Beeld Ekstra, will understand the significance and symbolic value of his appointment. The fact that just under 60 percent of the readers of Die Burger come from the coloured community makes Jeffrey’s engagement a sensible move by Media24.
“The Ekstra man from yesterday can now help facilitate a better tomorrow for Afrikaans, especially the image as the language of apartheid which, unfortunately, still lingers.”
But Sidego says blame should not be apportioned to the current government.
“Our new political dispensation freed Afrikaans from the artificial political confines where a handful of custodians tried to secure the cultural destiny for all and denied Afrikaans a free flow amongst all its natural speakers,” explains Sidego.
“Today it’s different, but a lot of damage was done to the image of our language.”
He adds that the government must be seen to be supportive of the principles of the constitution which, amongst other things, encourages multilingualism.
“Mother tongue education, for instance, is extremely important and must be available and affordable whenever requested, if practical.”
He warns against the dangers of “over-emphasizing” the value of the English language as the international medium of communication, saying stifling other African languages will result, over time, in the loss of important elements of our cultural heritage.
“After 12 years of democracy, the language debate is far from over,” he concludes.
“Afrikaans, singled out for special treatment and exclusivity under white custodianship, became politically burdened but despite this stumbling block, it’s now warts and all part of our African heritage. It should be accepted and treated as such.”