Findings
Three themes emerged from the findings, and they are key factors that were responsible for the shift in language policy and the choice of Mmega Dikgang. the hegemony of English in South African society, the lack of funding for the community newspaper and the lack of trained journalists proficient in Setswana.
When the newspaper started out, the working language was Setswana. The plan was to test how people would respond to a newspaper written in Setswana, as the paper’s editor, Aaron Maleke, elucidates:
The issue of language is key, you know, our African language is very' key and we thought that, if you go to KwaZulu Natal, there is no newspaper that does not print in IsiZulu. I don’t even know a newspaper in KwaZulu Natal that publishes in any' other language, except IsiZulu. So we thought also that the market and even the government itself, they need a publication that runs in Setswana.
(Personal interview, 11 February 2019)
On moving to English as the language of choice for Mmega Dikgang, the editor argued that most of the press statements (mostly' from government departments, municipalities and other entities) are made in English. For that reason, it would be easier to report in the language in which the news was gathered. This would reduce the work required to complete the cumbersome and time-consuming process of translating from English to Setswana, given the time constraints in meeting deadlines for printing each issue. However, in 2008, the founder shifted to the bilingual format, which incorporated English but still maintained the Setswana language since the funding requirements from the MDDA included the use of Setswana in the newspaper. By' that time, the two journalists who could write in Setswana were funded by' the MDDA. However, after the funding lapsed, thenewspaper could not manage to retain them. This marked the demise of Setswana publishing in Mmega Dikgang.
Therefore, one of the reasons why Mmega Dikgang discontinued the use of Setswana is the shortage of professionally trained media personnel who could write the language. According to the founder, ‘there are people who are professionally trained to write in Setswana, but remember, in journalism, there is no school where you can study Setswana and learn how to write media stories in Setswana’ (Personal interview, 11 February 2019). For that reason, they appointed a non-Setswana-speaking news editor. The editor further opined that English is the language of journalism, and to use Setswana in journalism, one relies on the little Setswana that was learnt in school. Consequently, the editor bemoaned the lack of trained journalists with the knowledge to practice journalism in Setswana. He said,
Writing requires expertise in journalism. It’s not like when a teacher writes an essay; you need to also add an element of charisma into it. You don’t write Setswana as if you’re writing an essay or something like that. It has to have that interesting element so that when a person reads it, they must enjoy. They must use idioms, so we need those people. It’s unfortunate that, as we speak, no university teaches journalism in Setswana or any other African languages.
(Personal interview, 11 February 2019)
He further explained that attempts were made to engage lecturers from the local university and to possibly establish a partnership with the Department of Communication or Setswana at the institution to assist with personnel when the need arises. The efforts were fruitless because lecturers preferred remunerated individual agreements and contracts to complete the translations, yet the funding from MDDA was not enough to pay the translators. This shows that the major problem was the lack of expertise to translate from English to Setswana, and funding to pay the translators. The paper solely relies on advertisements for payment of salaries and general survival.
Another challenge that emerged from the interview is the limited readership of Setswana articles since the majority of people with a reading culture tend to prefer English language newspapers. However, this view was countered by all participants, who preferred Setswana as the language they want to see in newspapers. Some of the notable responses from the focus group confirm this viewpoint:
A: I can understand Setswana better than any other language. With English, I would say I understand it only to find out that I do not understand everything. B: Mmega Dikgang should not publish only in English. Not all of us can read and understand the language, though we did it at school.
The participants’ views show that they disapproved of Mmega Dikgang's shift from Setswana to English. The above statements show that, contrary' to the perception held by the Mmega Dikgang editor, readers’ perspectives show a strong preference
Mmega Dikgang’s transition to English 83 for news content that is published in Setswana. Thus, the readers confirm that the decision by the newspaper to disavow Setswana as the language of publishing was retrogressive. Mmega Dikgang’s unexpected shift from Setswana to English also puzzled students from the local university who had been using it as an African language newspaper in Setswana and journalism studies. This is indicated by the respondents’ call for the return of Setswana in Mmega Dikgang. This view is also supported by the former communication manager at the Ratlou local municipality, who argued:
If we focus on the English language, we don’t reach our target audience. You know these service delivery protests, most of them are caused by the communication barrier, a language barrier. Why do they call their newspaper Mmega Dikgang’, but when you look inside, it’s a different thing. They should stick to the name of the newspaper, Mmega Dikgang’, they should report the news in Setswana.
(Personal interview , 22 February 2019)
The findings also show that journalists detest writing stories in Setswana, as they perceive it to be arduous and difficult to write. The editor of Mmega Dikgang argued that ‘Setswana is very difficult and expansive in writing ... it needs a lot of time’ (Personal interview, 11 February 2019). This reveals the negative attitude towards writing in Setswana, which could have contributed to the language shift in the newspaper.
Going forward, it is possible that Mmega Dikgang will revert to publishing Setswana, but the editor indicated this can only happen if the MDDA funding is reinstated, or if any other sources of funding are made available to employ a Setswana-writing journalist. Currently, it is difficult to accommodate any addition to the current personnel under the current budget. The other possibility includes re-engaging the university to see if a deal can be struck with Setswana translators in a way that benefits both parties. Since English is the language of journalism, universities need to restructure their curriculum to include indigenous languages. Since the newspaper solely relies on advertisements, with the government being the major advertiser, there is a need to move away from that dependency.
However, readers’ responses show that a return to the Setswana version of Mmega Dikgang is imperative since a newspaper published in their indigenous language will meet their linguistic and cultural needs. Some even went further to reflect on their previous experiences when the newspaper was published in Setswana:
C: Setswana Mmega Dikgang made us understand ourselves better.
D: Mmega Dikgang in Setswana made us aware of the happenings in our surroundings. Sometimes you need information close to you, not stories from Gauteng.
(Personal interview, 22 February 2019)
Over and above a preference for returning the Mmega Dikgang newspaper to Setswana, some respondents during the focus group discussion indicated that they would not mind having some English words or stories included in the newspaper. They felt that, in some cases, Setswana might not have the functional load to convey certain words or stories on political, economic or scientific stories. One discussant said:
F: There are certain English expressions that cannot be expressed in Setswana. If there is a shortage of words in Setswana, then one can use English words.
(Personal interview, 22 February 2019)
These kinds of sentiments confirm the linguistic hegemony that the English language continues to enjoy at the expense of indigenous languages in postindependence African communities. This confirms what Salawu (2015) called the lack of cultural assertiveness and pride towards using one’s own indigenous languages. Therefore, whether or not Mmega Dikgang’s readership, appreciation and popularity among the Setswana-speaking people in the North West Province will increase, should the paper adopt a Setswana publishing regime, remains a mystery. Additionally, this observation not only confirms a critical perspective about how media are used to spread Western colonial values and ideals through language (Melkote and Steeves 2015, 159 165), but also reveals how some people, whether readers or otherwise, participate in their own subjugation by believing that the English language is superior to African languages.
