i Title: Critical Analysis and Assessment of Language Policy and Implementation in South Africa: South African Broadcasting Corporation’s Soap Operas. Doctor of Philosophy Research Submitted by Kealeboga Aiseng (671253) Submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2001. Supervisor: Professor Innocentia Mhlambi. ii Abstract South Africa is a country with a heavy political past, having gone through colonialism, and Apartheid. The country’ history brewed ideologies of exclusion and inclusion, empowerment, and disempowerment. Among these were linguistic issues. In 1994, South Africa officially became a democratic country, with a new Constitution adopted in 1996. The South African Constitution is globally recognised for its principles of freedom, equality, reconciliation, and multiculturalism. Post-Apartheid South Africa also saw the significant role that can be played by popular culture in redressing the mistakes of the past. Hence, popular culture in post- Apartheid South Africa was given a task of healing the wounds of the past and building a united South Africa. The problem, however, is that linguistically, a new world order of exclusion and inclusion, empowerment and disempowerment is emerging in post-Apartheid South Africa, and this exists among indigenous languages in South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). This thesis is an attempt to offer a sociolinguistic analysis of how the SABC television, with SABC 1 and SABC 2 as examples the public broadcaster’s shortcomings in implementing its own language policy. This has led to both SABC 1 and SABC 2 using languages in such a way that does not reflect the linguistic realities and linguistic demographics of South Africa. Furthermore, the thesis’ analysis has also established that there is an ongoing production and distribution of ideologies of whiteness in one of the SABC’s soap operas. These issues sum up the interest of this thesis. Ultimately, the thesis has reached a conclusion that the SABC language policy is failing the small-status linguistic and cultural groups in South Africa. iii Declaration This thesis is my original work except as indicated in the references and acknowledgments. This work has not been presented for a degree in any other university. ………………………………………………………………….. Kealeboga Aiseng. Signed at ………Makhanda………………………………… On the…27……………Day of…July…………………….2021 iv Dedication I dedicate this paper to my family, friends and everyone who contributed to this project. Indeed, matlo go sha mababi. This paper is also for my son, Abdul, daddy is securing a better future for you son. To my grandmother, Thabo Aiseng, I dedicate this paper for you also, you taught me all that I know and made me see the importance of going to school. To my late grandfather who passed away just before I could submit this research, Tshelebe Aiseng, robala ka kagiso Molehe. v Acknowledgements Many names can go into this section, but that will be a thesis on its own. Sindiswa Latha (for your timeous reference checks), Bhekikhaya Nkosi, Mbalenhle Buthelezi, Sinethemba Mbovane, Aphelele Matika (thank you very much for your Zulu and Xhosa transcription), to my colleagues at City Varsity, I appreciate all the information you provided me with for my research. Bagaetsho ke monnye mo ganong, ga ke a fiwa. Fela, lo dirile tiro a masisi. Setswana sa re modiri ga se moji. Tshwarang ka thata, ka lengwe la malatsi modimo le badimo ba tla lo okeletsa. Fifing go tshwarwana ka dikobo. Mosimane wa Motlokwa o le lebogile To my supervisor, Prof Innocentia Mhlambi (your supervision is world-class). Ke rata go go raya kere dilo dimakwati, di tsewa mo go ba bangwe. Ga wantomeletsa. Ke tla dula ke go gopola, moropeng go a boelwa, go sa boelweng ke teng. Montsamaisa bosigo ke mo leboga bosele. To my mother, Oarabile Aiseng. You never understood what I am studying all these years. But you kept encouraging me to work hard. Tiro e wetse mme. Ke lebogela kgodiso le tataiso ya gago ka dinako tsotlhe. You and my grandmother, Thabo Aiseng lo ne lo tshwere thipa ka fa bogaleng. Ke rata le go leboga ba lephata ka National Research Foundation (NRF) ka thuso le tshegetso ya matlole go re ke kgone le go atlega mo go fetseng dithuto tsa me tsa porogoram yone e. Pula bagaetsho. To everyone else: The son of a domestic worker has made it. vi Table of Contents 1. Title Page……………………………………………………………Page i 2. Abstract……………………………………………………………..Page ii 3. Plagiarism Declaration……………………………………………...Page iii 4. Dedication…………………………………………………………..Page iv 5. Acknowledgments…………………………………………………...Page v 6. Table of Contents……………………………………………………Page vi 7. List of Figures/Pictures…………………………………………….Page viii 8. Abbreviations/Acronyms……………………………………………Page ix 9. Introduction…………………………………………………………Page 1 9.1. Aim Statement…………………………………………………Page 1 9.2. Language Policy………………………………………………Page 2 9.3. Broadcasting…………………………………………………..Page 7 9.4.Rationale……………………………………………………….Page 8 9.5.Research problem and research questions……………………..Page 10 9.6. Literature review………………………………………………Page 11 9.6.1. Language Policy………………………………………..Page 11 9.6.2. Language Ideology …………………………………….Page 13 9.6.3. Critical Political Economy of the Media……………….Page 16 9.7. Theoretical Framework…………………………………………Page 17 9.8.Overview Research Methodology …………………………….Page 20 9.8.1. Introduction…………………………………………….Page 20 9.8.2. Research design………………………………………..Page 22 9.8.3. Methods of collecting data…………………………….Page 23 9.8.3.1. Interviews…………………………………………Page 23 9.8.3.2. Contextual Analysis……………………………….Page 24 9.8.3.3. Textual Analysis…………………………………..Page 24 9.8.3.4. Transcription data analysis………………………..Page 24 9.9 Overview of Chapters…………………………………………Page 25 10. Chapter 1: Generations: The Legacy: Embracing National Ideology and Neoliberalism…………………Page 27 11. Chapter 2: Political Interference in the SABC: The case of Uzalo and the Production of Language Ideologies?....................................................................Page 68 vii Chapter 3: The emergence of IsiZulu in Skeem Saam (2011): Sociolinguistic factors and the politics of the ‘the loss of ethnolinguistic pluralism’ at the SABC 1…………………………………………………………………….Page 101 12. Chapter 4: A Quest Against Neoliberal Multiculturalism, Form and Content in the case of Muvhango…………………………………………………Page 124 13. Chapter 5: Ideologies of Whiteness: Unsettling Race and Language in the case of 7de Laan………………………………………………………………..Page 152 14. A Toothless Dog? Conclusion …………………………………….Page 193 15. Bibliography………………………………………………………..Page 197 viii List of Figures/Pictures/Tables Name Page number Figure 1 SABC revenue comparative 41 Figure 2: Population by first language spoken and province 45 Picture 1: KFC Advert 46 Picture 2: Castle Milk Stout 47 Picture 3: Castle Milk Stout 48 Figure 3: Official languages of South Africa 110 Picture 4: Facebook Screenshot 175 Picture 5: Facebook Screenshot 176 Table 1: Monolingual dialogue lines in Generations: The Legacy 62 Table 2: Monolingual dialogue lines in Generations: The Legacy 63 Table 3: Monolingual dialogue lines in Generations: The Legacy 63 Table 4: Monolingual dialogue lines in Generations: The Legacy 64 Table 5: Monolingual dialogue lines in Generations: The Legacy 64 Table 6: Dialogue lines using translanguaging in Generations: The Legacy. 65. ix List of Abbrevations/Accronyms Abbrevation/Acronym Name AMARC World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters ANC African National Congress AsGISA Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa AZAPO Azanian People’s Organization BBC British Broadcasting Corporation BCCSA Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa CWT Critical Whiteness Theory CRT Critical Race Theory DA Democratic Alliance DP Democratic Party CPEM Critical Political Economy of the Media GEAR Growth, Employment and Redistribution JSE Johannesburg Stock Exchange IBA Independent Broadcasting Authority ICASA Independent Communications Authority of South Africa IFP Inkatha Freedom Party KZN KwaZulu-Natal MMA Media Monitoring Africa NDP National Development Plan PAC Pan Africanist Congress PanSALB Pan South African Language Board x PSB Public Service Broadcasting RDP Reconstruction and Development Program RSA Republic of South Africa SABC South African Broadcasting Corporation TRC Truth and Reconciliation Commission 1 Introduction: Setting the Scene. South Africa is a very rich and diverse country concerning linguistics. The country’s constitution, adopted in 1996, is respected as one of the best provisions for multilingualism in the world. The constitution gives all the previously disadvantaged languages, including former hegemonic languages: English and Afrikaans, the legal recognition as official languages. All languages in the country must be treated with equal respect. South Africa, like many other multilingual nations, in the world is faced with a complex linguistic situation mirroring the long colonial experience of the country, “the multifaceted socio-demographic and linguistics make up of its population and also the desire to meet local language demands and international communication needs” (Diallo, 2005:1). This complex linguistic situation, as Diallo (2005) argues in the case of Senegal, continues to create linguistic challenges for applied linguists, sociolinguists, language policymakers, decision makers and communities, among others. This thesis falls within the field of sociolinguistics particularly around language policy, implementation and broadcasting. It focuses mainly on language policy and language-in- popular in South Africa. The focus is specifically on post-1994 public broadcasting, using the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)’s soap operas as the focus of this study. The thesis addresses issues such as equal usage of indigenous languages, attitudes towards indigenous language as well as issues pertaining to language planning and policies in the SABC. The post-1994 public broadcasting is approached from the perspective of popular culture. This is because the stories and shows in public broadcasting are drawn from the everyday stories; they get their storylines and themes from stories that make everyday conversations. Therefore, a study regarding the implementation of language policy in public broadcasting is important as it will reflect how far South Africa’s language policy is to be truly recognised and implemented. The thesis will use the term “language policy” as the SABC uses it to explain measures to improve and protect language usage in its programming. 1. Aim of the thesis There are two aims that this thesis intends to achieve: first, it aims to analyse and critique a theoretical versus a practical language planning orientation in South Africa. Secondly, it 2 aims to establish how the SABC’s, and national language policies are implemented in the SABC’s soap operas. The thesis will analyse and critique how the policy advancing multilingualism in South Africa through (the Constitution, the Broadcasting Act as amended and SABC editorial Policies, PanSALB) translate into practice in Generations: The Legacy, Uzalo, Skeem Saam, Muvhango and 7de Laan. The main argument of this study is that contrary to the Constitutional principle of language equity and the SABC language policy, language usage in the SABC’s soap operas points to a different reality; certain languages continue to be used more than others, English and Afrikaans are still preferred as languages of choice in White stories, and there is also a battle for small-status languages to have presence in the broadcaster. 2. Language Policy The language policy under scrutiny in this thesis is the SABC’s language policy. This policy is part of the SABC’s editorial policies. The current editorial policy was adopted in 2020. The first SABC editorial policy was launched in 2004 in line the Broadcasting Act 4 of 1999 stipulation. Tollefson (1991) argues that language policies are adopted to solve language problems in multilingual settings and to increase social and economic opportunities for linguistic minorities or majorities in any society. As a result, language policy involves the development of public policies. These public policies are meant to affect various aspects of the status and use of languages by people (Schmidt, 2006). However, as Schiffman (1998:364) once warned, “implementation may in fact be the Achilles heel of most language planning”. This is where I seek to problematise the SABC language policy, it is unbalanced, and has a slow- motion implementation. The 1994 South Africa’s first democratic elections led to new language debates. The major question was what was going to happen to English and Afrikaans, were they going to continue being the official languages, what was going to happen to indigenous African languages that had been marginalised for decades. Everyone had their views, but the consensus was that things had to change. The African National Congress (ANC) was for a “laissez faire approach, which many suggested would result, over time, in the emergence of a national language, probably English” (Prah, 2006:13). The Democratic Party (DP), the party largely representing English-speaking whites, was for English as the sole official language. 3 National Party, representing the white Afrikaans-speaking communities, wanted Afrikaans to retain its official status alongside English. Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) based in KwaZulu Natal supported a move that would encourage the use of all African languages. But this was just in paper. They favoured isiZulu over other languages. Parties such as Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), and the Azanian People’s Organization (AZAPO) also supported the development of the African languages. As a result, the adoption of the eleven-language policy was an attempt to satisfy all contending interests and to avoid possible linguistic civil war in the country (Prah, 2006). With this backdrop, I seek to trace and unveil the outcomes of such a political stature on indigenous languages and their usage in the SABC. The usage of indigenous languages in the SABC is unbalanced. While the language policy seeks to offer a picture that is representative of the country’s linguistic diversity, the reality paints a different picture. The first hypothesis of this thesis is that an unbalanced linguistic representation and usage of indigenous languages in the SABC reflects the country’s pattenrns of language usage and structuring. As a result, the SABC is becoming a platform to spread language ideologies. The constitution of South Africa states that the country is a multilingual one, and every language must enjoy the same rights and equal benefits that every other language(s) gets. Language protection, equal language promotion and linguistic diversity are clearly acknowledged in the Constitution’s preamble: “we the people of South Africa believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity, and therefore recognize the reality that many South Africans indeed have cultural, religious and linguistic identities” (RSA Constitution, 1996). Chapter 1, Section 6 (1) of the Constitution of South Africa states that “the official languages of the Republic are Sepedi, (Sesotho sa Leboa), Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu” (RSA Constitution, 1996). Furthermore, according to (Madiba, 2005), section 6 (2) mandates the government to take practical measures in making sure that these languages are promoted equally (including minority languages). The Constitution states that “recognising the historically diminished use and status of the indigenous languages of our people, the state must take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and advance the use of these languages” (RSA Constitution, 1996). 4 The Constitution has several clauses that intend to make sure that the state as well as government officials monitor the use of official languages in all government levels, local, provincial and national (Madiba, 2005). All languages are given protection in the Constitution through two measures, firstly, the establishment of a Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB). The Board was established in terms of the Pan South African Language Board Act 59 of 1995 amended as PANSALB Amendment Act of 1995. The Board was established to (a) Promote and create conditions for the development and use of official languages (including) the Khoe, San languages and Sign Language. (b) Promote and ensure respect for all languages commonly used by communities in South Africa, including German, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Portuguese, Tamil, Telegu, and Urdu, and Arabic, Hebrew, Sanskrit, and other languages used for religious purposes in South Africa (PanSALB, 2015:1). Secondly, the Constitution makes provision for multilingualism and language protection in South Africa in Section 185. The Section makes provision for the establishment of the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religion and Linguistic Communities (Madiba, 2005). The Commission is established based on the following objectives: 1. To promote respect for the rights of cultural, religious, and linguistic communities. 2. To promote and develop peace, friendship, humanity, tolerance, and national unity among cultural, religious, and linguistic communities, on the basis of equality, non- discrimination and free association; and 3. To recommend the establishment or recognition, in accordance with national legislation, of a cultural or other council or councils for a community of communities in South Africa. The Commission has legal right and legal obligation to protect the rights of cultural, religion and linguistic communities as mandated by the national legislature. Such is the South African language policy. The SABC language policy considers the provisions of the Constitution of the country and guides the SABC in: 5 • Providing a range of distinctive, creative, compelling, and top-quality content in all official languages across its platforms. • Reflecting the needs of each language community in its content and offerings. • Maintaining distinctive and separate radio services in each of the official languages. • Integrating the South African Sign Language into its offerings as a means of making content accessible to people with hearing disabilities and • Including other non-official languages spoken in South Africa, with particular emphasis on Khoi, Nama, and San Languages (South African Editorial Policies, 2020: 32). Furthermore, in achieving these commitments the SABC is guided by the following: • The need for key institutions, in adding to the SAVC, to take practical and positive steps to treat all official languages fairly. • The need to address the marginalization of indigenous languages and the South African Sign Language in recognition of the impact of previous systematic deprecation of those languages. • The obligation to reflect the linguistic and cultural diversity, and multilingual nature of South Africa while promoting national unity. • The SABC’s responsibility to be responsive to the needs of all South Africans, including persons with disabilities; and • The importance of language in communication as the carrier of values, attitudes, culture, and expression (South African Editorial Policies, 2020: 32). The above policy framework is a clear indication of the SABC’s attempt to address the past linguistic injustices on indigenous languages and ensure that the language usage in its programming is aligned with what the Constitution provides for. However, there has not been enough implementation of the policy or where it has been implemented, it has not had the anticipated effects. From the preliminary analysis, the thesis argues that there is an unsystematic nature of language policy implementation in the SABC. That is, the implementation of the language policy is unbalanced; it is inconsistent with the linguistic realities of the country, as a result, leads to normative unequal representation and usage of indigenous languages in the SABC. 6 South Africa has clear language policy frameworks. But like many other multilingual nations in the world, the country is still facing language problems. As it will be shown during this thesis in relation to the case studies, the SABC is having challenges with implementing its language policy. In instances where it implements it, it is usually skewed. However, we will also see that some of the SABC soap operas have opted for disruptive multilingual practices, something which the SABC language policy allows for. An example of such practice is translanguaging. Translanguaging endorses the idea that human beings speak more than one or two languages; their linguistic repertoire is rich to an extent that they can draw from it at any time, not only for the sake of communication but also for identity formation Makalela (2014). Through adopting these destructive multilingual practices, small-status languages that are normally not catered for in the soap operas get to be used, they also receive some airtime. Moreover, these arguments will also reveal that the disruptive multilingual practices are counterstrategies against the dominance of isiZulu in the soap operas. DeGroff and Cargo (2009) define policy implementation as a complex process of transforming government decisions into programs, regulations or practices that are aimed at social betterment. When it comes to language policy in the SABC, implementation lags, sometimes it appears skewed, and this is because certain languages still enjoy more benefits than others. With this backdrop, I can now introduce the scope of this paper. The interest of this paper is on language policy and implementation, with a focus on the usage of indigenous African languages in the country’s popular culture. Popular culture here encompasses broadcasting. This is because broadcasting is influenced by the everyday practices and everyday stories of the people. To enable me to carry out this research successfully, I will focus on SABC’s post- Apartheid soap operas: Generations: The Legacy, Uzalo, Skeem Saam, Muvhango and 7de Laan. The reason for choosing these soap operas is that they are all broadcasted by SABC. The SABC, as a public broadcaster, is important to be scrutinised on the basis through which it helps transform the society from what it was during the Apartheid period to a democratic South Africa. These soaps are also chosen on the basis that they have a huge viewership; therefore, it is imperative that their use of language is scrutinised. The thesis will analyse few episodes from these soap operas in the last five years (2015-2020). The reason to choose five soap operas is that the SABC has five soap operas, three in SABC 1 and two in SABC 2. As 7 the study focuses on the implementation of the SABC language policy on its soap operas, I analyse all SABC soap operas. The study also chose to use soap operas over other genres because soap operas are the most watched television programs, and they carry socio-political and economic ideologies (Geraghty, 2006). 3. Broadcasting Broadcasting institutions in South Africa are divided as follows: Public Service Broadcasting (PSB), Commercial Broadcasting and Community Broadcasting. The focus of this study is on public service broadcasting (PSB) using television. There is no single definition of what constitutes a PSB. However, there are key characteristics which are accepted as common to what can be regarded as a PSB (Teer-Tomaselli, 2008). All public broadcasters pride themselves with serving the ‘public interests’ by providing relevant information, balanced and fair reporting and diversity of programs and services (Raboy; 1990, Scannell; 1991, Mpofu et al; 2000, Scannell; 2000, Raboy; 2003, Teer-Tomaselli; 2005, 2008). Considering this foundational structure for what constitutes a public service broadcaster, below are some classical principles of a public service broadcaster as summarized by the European Broadcasting Union (cited in Morrison, 1986:13): • Universal geographic accessibility • Universal appeal across tastes and interests • Particular attention to minorities • Contribution to a sense of national identity and community • Distance from vested interests • Direct funding and universality of payment • Competition in good programming rather than for numbers • Guidelines that liberate rather than restrict program makers. With the above PSB background on basic functions and principles that underpin the SABC, it is vital to discuss policies and regulations that govern the SABC. The SABC is governed by the following policies: The South African Constitution, The Broadcasting Act of 1999 as Amended and the SABC Editorial Policies. In Section 16 of the South African Constitution, it is clearly stated that “Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom for the press and other media; freedom to receive or impart information or ideas; 8 freedom of artistic creativity; and academic freedom and freedom of scientific research”. These provisions come with the following limitations to freedom of expression: “The right in subsection (1) does not extend to propaganda for war, incitement of imminent violence; or advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, and that constitutes incitement to cause harm”. The purpose of the SABC Editorial policies is to guide the SABC in discharging and performing its public mandate. It is a framework for the SABC editorial staff. The policies relate to content and services for national and international audiences. The Broadcasting Act as amended, on the other hand, seeks to ensure that the South African broadcasting system is positioned by legislation to contribute towards the strengthening of democracy through privileging the public interest above all others, and contributing towards societal betterment. These policies are of paramount importance in this study. They clearly state that the SABC is required to have programming that uses all official languages of South Africa. In the 2016 Government Gazette produced by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) recognized that language plays a crucial role in promoting and achieving the goals of building democracy. This is because the development of language is closely linked to the development of culture and identity. As a result, MMA argued that the promotion of local content should include enough African languages. In relation to this, ICASA contended that broadcasters are making a great effort to cover different languages in news bulletins, current affairs, children’s programmes, and drama. However, there is less effort made in relation to other genres. 4. Rationale Numerous scholars across the world have highlighted the issue of language policies and how implementation is always a problem (Mkudi, 1996; Ngcobo, 2003; Wright, 2004; Makanda, 2011; Augusto, 2012; Mutasa, 2015; Kangira, 2016a, 2016b; Chen, 2016). The key argument connecting the works of all these scholars is that language policies are sometimes adopted for the sake of restoration and justice to languages because oflinguistic imperialism and violence suffered in the past. However, implementation is always a key failing mechanism; it is hardly, if ever, achieved to the satisfaction of the speakers. South Africa has also been a victim of such a dilemma. 9 Due to implementation failure, dominant groups use various mechanisms such as the media and education to elevate their preferred languages in society and keep others at bay (Truscott and Malcom, 2010). According to Blommaert (1999), attitudes of using some languages more than others in the media are related to broader political, social and historical factors among societies and groups. The result of these issues is often different groups dominating others. However, all these scholars have looked at these issues from the perspective of colonial versus indigenous languages, emphasising that colonial languages still occupy a higher position than indigenous languages in former colonies. The relationship between media, indigenous communities and language is also an imperative issue that has been explored by various scholars. In Botswana, the use of language in media is highly influenced by ethnic belonging; the majority group (Batswana) are more present in the media than other ethnic groups (Bagwasi, 2019). Similarly, Shona and Ndebele enjoy more airtime in the Zimbabwean media than other indigenous languages Chewa, Kalanga and Nambya (Hikwa, 2015). The Nigerian constitution acknowledges that Nigerian media is welcome to use whichever language they prefer. However, dominant ones are Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo (Obukadeta, 2019). This leaves little to no room for other indigenous languages to be featured in the media. In Australia, the dominant language in the media is the Standard Australian English, despite the language having no legal status for such. Countries such as Brazil also have the same problem, Portuguese is dominating the media. Hikwa (2015) notes that the promoting of some indigenous languages over others in the media is hegemonic and threatens national cohesion. This is because language then plays social and political function of hierarchising social groups. Furthermore, those at the bottom of the hierarchy are excluded from social, cultural and political activities (Hikwa, 2015). The current study has no interest in the relationship between colonial and indigenous languages for that issue has been exhausted. The interest of this thesis is on the relationship between indigenous languages themselves. The study considers that it cannot only be injustice when domination is done by colonial languages on indigenous languages. It is also an injustice when domination is done by one indigenous language over others. The relationship between language, indigenous groups and media in the South African context has hardly been explored. Studies on language policies and language hegemony in South Africa have mostly focused on education while the broadcast domain has received very little attention. Scholars such as Nomlomo and Katiya (2018) argue that South Africa’s 10 multilingualism in the education sector is highly questionable due to the dominance of English in the sector. Desai (2016) notes that South Africa’s education sector, both basic and higher education, still reflects colonial and Apartheid legacy. However, currently efforts are made to transform language conditions in South Africa. For example, universities such as University of the Witwatersrand and University of KwaZulu-Natal have adopted language policies that seek to promote teaching and learning in indigenous languages. This thesis posits that the usage of language in the SABC is a fundamental topic that should be studied to understand the progress of redressing Apartheid and colonial legacies on indigenous languages. Therefore, the newness of this study is in demonstrating how the social and political group, isiZulu, is dominating other indigenous languages in the SABC programmes. Furthermore, this thesis will also explore how 7de Laan is perpetuating ideals of whiteness in post-Apartheid South Africa. Whiteness is an ideology that undermines transformation, it promotes discrimination. Likewise, the over insistence on isiZulu, promotes ethnicisation. In another words, the study proposes that two social groups, isiZulu and Afrikaans are being promoted respectively in the SABC. The issue of colonial language(s) will also be touched on in this thesis and how whiteness is produced and distributed by an Afrikaans soap opera (7de Laan). 7de Laan is an important case study here as it is the only soap opera in the SABC that uses Afrikaans and English predominantly. Scholars such as Steyn (2004), and Knoetze (2016) Marx (2018) have heavily criticised the promotion of whiteness in 7de Laan. However, they did not look at how the production of whiteness in the soap is enabled by linguistic factors, as well as political and economic factors of the past and the present in South Africa. This thesis will explore this element and link it to the shortcomings of the SABC is in ensuring that its language policy is adhered to by all its productions. 5. Research problem and Research Questions This research’s interest is on the theoretical versus the practical orientation behind the implementation of language policy in the SABC. Of interest is investigating if there is enough implementation of the language policy, relying on the SABC soap operas as case studies. The third hypothesis I make is that, to an extent, the SABC has abided by 11 constitutional mandate of promoting the 11 official languages of the country, but it is struggling to achieve parity utilisation of indigenous languages in soap operas. The terms of reference for this work directed attention to the need to answer the following research questions: a. Are there some democratic pluralisms or hierarchical pluralism (features/practices/principles/challenges) in implementing the language policy in the SABC? What factors have contributed to the moribund implementation of the language policy in post-Apartheid South Africa? b. Is the allotment of airtime to different languages in soap operas structured by ideologies, hegemony, and power discourses? c. How do soap operas react to the SABC’s language policy? These questions come because of the fourth hypothesis: there is a clear contestation of space by indigenous languages in the SABC soap operas. This is because some of these languages hardly make it to the screen. Hence, we need to ask if there are no producers of television content or a growing number of new writers in Xitsonga, siSwati, Setswana, or isiNdebele. Or are there hegemonic and ideological elements in the commissioning rooms which seek to cripple the development of these languages? It is also imperative to ask to what extent translanguaging can curb down some of these problems. These questions are specifically vital to ask because soap operas are produced and written by people working under social, political, economic and cultural settings. As a result, these soaps are informed by the particularities of their production environment. 6. Literature review Theories applied in analysing and answering the above research questions and supporting the rationale of the study draw from the works of a variety of scholars from a diversity of academic disciplines. This literature review is divided into the following sections: language policy, language ideology and critical political economy of the media. 6.1. Language Policy Language policy came into practice as a branch of sociolinguistics during the 1950s and 1960s when scholars from Africa, South America and Asia engaged in research to develop 12 grammar, writing systems and dictionaries for indigenous languages (Ricento, 2006). Scholars mostly trained in descriptive linguistics were interested in understudied languages and advancing theories of language structure and use. As a result, languages were soon realised to be crucial in nation-building and nation unification (Ricento, 2006). This is how the SABC language policy has been formulated; to rely on language to build a nation. However, this has not proved to be purposeful for the country as nationalism only leads to linguistic hierarchies. Even though SABC has adopted a language policy which promotes all languages, only few languages enjoy the space. This resembles nation-states ideologies. Certain languages are associated with power in South Africa, political and economic power (Parmegiani, 2015). The most well-known language policy framework is that of Spolsky (2004). Spolsky’s framework proposes language policy as comprised of the formal language management, the complex systems of language ideologies / beliefs and the actual language practices of a speech community. Numerous scholars have explored this conceptualisation further (Bonacina-Pugh, 2012; Fitzsimmons-Doolan, 2014; 2018a, Hu and Lei, 2014). In essence, language policy studies have paid attention to the ways in which social actors at macro- (lawmakers), mezzo- (administrators), and micro- (teachers) layers have influenced language development and usage and the politics of language usage (Menken and Garcia, 2010; Johnson, 2013; Heineke, 2017; Fitzsimmons-Doolan, 2018b). As Ricento (2006:11) argues, “language policy is not just an exercise in philosophical inquiry, it is interested in addressing social problems which often involves language, to one degree or another, and in proposing realistic remedies”. It is important to note that a policy is a statement, plan or guide for action. Policy is not a law; however, policies can be adopted into laws. Government, organisations and schools use policies to govern themselves (Evans and Cleghorn, 2012). The SABC language policy, as Ricento argues, was intended to be a remedy for the colonial subjugation endured by indigenous languages. However, a question remains: what exactly was the broadcaster’s language policy meant for? This is an interrelated question which will be answered as this thesis unfolds. As Lewis (1981:262) observed Any policy for language…must take account of the attitude of those likely to be affected. In the long run, no policy will succeed which does not do one of three things: conform to the expressed attitudes of those involved; persuade 13 those who express negative attitudes of those involved; persuade those who express negative attitudes about the rightness of the policy; or seek to remove the causes of the disagreement to the formulation of a policy as well as to succeed in its implementation. Evans and Cleghorn (2012) state that language policies are a responsibility of people who do not have an every-day contact with the contexts in which these policies are to be implemented. Kaplan and Baldauf (1997:169) emphasise that a traditional policymaking process fits a top-down model of “people with power and authority who make language related decisions for groups, often with little or no consultation with the ultimate users”. However, language policy and planning are not just a top-down process, it also involves much controversy and debates. Most countries face a dilemma in deciding a language of teaching and learning for the school system (Evans and Cleghorn, 2012). This is more prevalent in former colonial countries; they still face challenges of moving away from colonial languages to indigenous languages in their school systems. Walsh (2012) contends that language policy is influenced by multifaceted and multi-layered processes of governance. It is an interconnected system. This view is in keeping with Shohamy’s (2006) argument. She states that language policy is more difficult to detect as it is subtle and hidden from the public eye. This view implies that processes and influences involved in the outcome of a language policy are subtle; they cannot be singled out as they are interrelated. 6.2. Language Ideology This thesis is interested in institutional production of language ideologies. In other words, on how institutions such as media are sites for production of language ideologies. In her seminal work, Phillips (1998) argues that institutions (cultural for the context of this thesis) serve as production of language ideologies to maintain national identities. These institutions convey language ideologies implicitly and/or explicitly through the languages they use, messages sent by language (metalanguage) and topics addressed or not addressed (Phillips, 1998). In sum, cultural institutions use language to naturalise dominant language ideologies and make them more powerful. To have a full understanding of what is meant by language ideologies is it imperative that one understands what is meant by “ideology”. Silverstein (1979) states that the term ‘ideology’ 14 was first coined at the end of the eighteenth century by the French philosopher, Destutt de Tracy, Tracy used the word as a science of ideas. Ideology is understood to be the meaning behind the consciousness, subjective representations, beliefs and ideas (Woolard, 1998). In the broadest sense, ideology is a constituent of culture, “the basic notions that the members of a society hold about a fairly definite…are such an honour” (Friedrich, 1989:301) – or we could propose, language, in the context of this paper. However, to use French structuralists and poststructuralists, in Althusser’s (1971) formulation, ideology is not a matter of consciousness or subjective representation, but a lived experience. According to Eagleton, ideology is “a particular organisation of signifying practices which goes to constitute human beings as social subjects, and which produces the lived relations by which such subjects are connected to the dominant relations of production in society” (1991:18). To narrow it down, ideology has to do with inhabitable positions of power – social, political, or economic. Ideology can be understood as ideas and discourses which signify practices of the struggle to acquire power. Ideologies can be a tool for anyone interested in claiming power, it can be “ours” and it can be “theirs”, subaltern as well as dominant (Woolard, 1998). Language ideology, linguistic ideology, ideologies of language, as Woolard (1998) uses these terms interchangeably, is a new coalescing field of inquiry. The focus of language ideology is to examine the cultural and historical specificity of languages, and not to divorce language ideology from other ideologies of everyday lives. Language ideology, not as a field of inquiry, is all about mechanisms of using language as a tool to acquire power. As a field of inquiry, it is intended to study ways in which language (s) is/are being used to gain power. It is important to note that as much as ideology can be “ours” as well as “theirs,” it is always a tool for the dominant social group, it is not for everyone. Hence, the cultural conceptions and practices of the subordinate groups are non-ideological (Woolard, 1998). Ajsic and McGroarty (2015) have taken the focus of language ideologies in institutional contexts further, focusing on how language ideologies are expressed in texts. Anvi (2012) studied such an approach on a Hebrew / English dual language school in a Jewish day school in New York. Anvi found that language ideologies expressed in policy documents and the curriculum focused more on Hebrew for both conversation and literacy development. Fitzsimmons-Doolan (2018b) argues that these texts were found to be in favour of Hebrew more than they were of English. 15 Hultgren (2014) also explored language ideologies of schools in Scandinavian universities. This research was also conducted by Hult and Kallkvist (2016). The duo focused on national language policy supporting parallel language use in universities. Fitzsimmons-Doolan (2018b) states that the research found contradictory language ideologies. Government institutions and policies favoured Danish; universities on the other hand favoured English as they regard English as an international language. Cultural institutions such as media and policy documents which are used by the government in most cases favour one form of language ideology while universities follow the other. This situation resembles the one in South Africa, certain institutions such as media, banks, commercial companies have started offering their services in both English and indigenous languages. On the other hand, some universities are have not adopted multilingual policies, they still rely solemnly on English as a language of instruction. In Africa Nigeria is an example of a state faced with language ideologies. According to Mazzoli (2017), Nigeria has a diverse ethnic composition and therefore, some parts of it are characterised by lack of linguistic social cohesion and group identity. Some parts of Nigeria are dominated by English, Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa. As result, Nigerian Pidgin has been used a main community language in response to the dominance of these languages (Mazzoli, 2017). Arguably, even if the speakers are not aware of this, but Nigerian Pidgin is a resistance mechanism against dominant languages in Nigeria (Mustapha, 2013). In keeping with Phillips (1998), studies have revealed that institutions (cultural) have the power to affect language practices through their language ideologies (Tseronis, 2002; Ricento, 2005, Anvi, 2012, Fitzsimmons-Doolan, 2018b). They also have the tendency to support and naturalise dominant language ideologies (Tseronis, 2002; Ricento, 2005; Hultgren, 2014; Hult and Kallkvist, 2016; Fitzsimmons-Doolan, 2018b). Therefore, the media are critical sites in my exploration of the complex interrelationship of language policy layers. Media products are deeply imbricated in relationships of power and ideology (Constantinou, 2005 and Androutsopoulus, 2006). These factors should not just be treated as simply embedded within the mediated texts but seen as very powerful to the extent of determining the message of the media product. To understand how language utilisation in the media an ideological mechanism is, it is vital to understand that media spaces are “highly complex 16 phenomenon that require a great deal of detailed textual, ethnographic and social deconstruction” (Johnson and Milani, 2010:5). However, I need to state that in my analysis I am not oblivious to external factors at play in language ideologies in the media. It is important to understand the influence of external factors such as political and economic. According to Giddens (cited in Johnson and Milani, 2010:5), “the power of the media in language ideological processes lies to a considerable extent in their practices as gatekeepers in the regimentation of ‘expert systems’ on language- related issues”. Giddens suggests that the constraint on media to fully provide language benefits and opportunities is because they serve an interest of a group, either the political or economic group. As van Dijk (1995) cited in Johnson and Milani (2010:5) had argued, “Individuals with high social, cultural and symbolic capital are always likely to have greater and privileged access to the processes of media productions”. Hence, political and economic gatekeeping will feature predominantly in analysing the failure of implementing language policies for advancing all indigenous languages in the country. 6.3. Critical Political Economy of Media Critical political economy of the media (CPEM) has been defined in many ways by different scholars. Graham (2007) describes it as a field of how all kinds of goods are produced, distributed, exchanged, and consumed. Hardy (2014) explains political economy of the media as describing all forms of political and economic dimensions and how they play a role in the media. Nicholas and Martinez (2020) argue that using the framework of political economy to understand media operations, not only do we realise that there are economic concerns but political and ideological concerns as well. Rather than focusing on wealth and allocation of resources in the media, political economy also studies power relations in the media. According to Wasko (2009), when power relations start to play out in the media is the commodification and commercialisation of media. Media organisations are being transformed worldwide, politically, socially, economically and technologically. Therefore, the role of these factors is paramount to understanding the past, present, and future of media operations. Within the field of media, politics and economy shape and determine the extent to which media organisations carry out their missions. While the focus of this thesis is on the use of languages in the media, it is worth focusing on the how politics and economy shape the use of language in the media. Research in linguistic 17 anthropology continues to show that language use and language ideologies produce forms of inequality and social differences within societies (Graan, 2016). Language has a very important role in the construction of political and social identities (Wright, 2016). It is this role that attracts the influence of politics and capital into the use of languages in the media. Wright (2016) explains that when one looks at the process of identity construction, capital and politics are paramount in that process. Politics and money play a role in how people see themselves and how they want to be seen. The role of media in all these processes cannot be ignored. Van Dijk (1995a) states that markets, politics, policies, and marginalisation all operate within an ideological basis. Such ideologies require production and reproduction; therefore, all these are mediated through the media. That is, the media is used by powerful forces to distribute their own agendas. For example, it has been documented that ethnicism and racism are exacerbated by at least some of the media and this is done by political and economic elites that have access to the media (Van Dijk, 1995b). 7. Theoretical Framework The appropriate theoretical framework for this thesis is language use in popular culture. This theoretical framework will show that language use is very important in popular culture. Here I intend to show that the use of languages in popular culture can exclude and include, can empower, and disempower. With the focus on the SABC, language usage in the soap operas is not reflective of the country’s multilingualism. SABC soap operas are dominated by isiZulu, with Tshivenda being the only small-status indigenous language challenging the dominance of isiZulu. We also see Afrikaans maintaining its Apartheid status of power and dominance in 7de Laan despite the SABC language policy emphasising redressing the linguistic issues of the past. This renders the SABC language policy a toothless dog. This framework also attempts to elucidate the relationship between the SABC language policy and actual language practices from the broadcaster’s soap operas. The SABC language policy and the soap operas produced by the SABC somehow contradict each other. 1) while the language policy envisions the broadcaster to reflect the linguistic diversity of the country, we see isiZulu dominating the soap operas. 2) we see soap operas endorsing the language 18 policy’s stance on recognising that languages are dynamic, developing and adapting to circumstances. To decipher the above implicit multilingual issues in the SABC, we need to look first at the meaning of popular culture. Popular culture is the everyday culture, the people’s culture, cultural products meant for mass consumption. It is a forum for people’s discussion about people’s concerns within a society. Popular cultures are cultural artefacts used to express, negotiate, and represent the everyday problems and issues. Therefore, popular culture cannot be mere entertainment that has no relevance to the lives of the people. This is because people use these popular culture spaces: theatre, hip hop music, drawings, literature, poetry, in creative ways to speak about their lives and their environments (Willis, 1990; McCarthy, 1998; Meyer, 2001; Dolby, 2006, 2001; Sue, 2009; Michaela, 2010; Pugliatti, 2013). In a sense, Dolby (2006:33) argues that popular culture is “an important locus of public debate and of individual and community agency”. The above analogy about popular culture is a broad one. We need to understand what constitutes popular culture in African contexts. Abah (2009), Newell (2002) and Barber (1997) argue that popular culture in the African contexts has always been slightly different from the way the term in understood in the West. And this has to do with cultural differences between the two. To understand popular culture, it is imperative to understand the conceptualisation of the term “popular”. As Barber noted, the term popular always refers to a social category called the “people”. In the West, the term ‘people’ in this context constitutes those that are the State, the dominant classes, the aristocracy, or the bourgeoisie (Barber, 1997). Hence, they divide culture into “low” and “high”. The former will be for the ordinary masses while the latter will be for the aristocracy and the ruling class. Taking the concept of popular culture to African context will mean a different thing. In Africa, the idea of “high culture” associated with an ancient aristocratic class does not exist. Rather, such a culture is used to describe a new elite group that has “power” in the society but still connected to the local people through kinship, language, and other community ties (Barber, 1997). In the African context, as it is the focus of this thesis, popular culture is understood as the culture that functions in the interest of the masses and enables them to empower themselves (Thiongo, 1997). The term encompasses what Barber (1997) called ‘common concerns. Unlike the common use of the term in the Western setting to refer to separation between 19 elites and the common, this thesis will rely on Thiongo’s conceptualisation of popular Africa to denote that which functions in the interest of the masses and Barber’s passion of that which represents ‘common concerns and people identifying their struggles, endurance and hope. Furthermore, Ligaga, Moyo and Gunner (2012) have argued that African popular culture, with the example of radio, has socio-political benefits for the African people. Radio in Africa has influenced liberation, has broken down the geographical boundaries, and has changed the colonial linguistic heritgage (Ligaga, Moyo and Gunner, 2012). This sets African popular culture apart from Euroepan popular culture which mainly focuses on entertainment. In a similar vein, Mhlambi (2011) contends that, with the example of the post-1900s SABC, African popular culture is a social engineering for contemporary, social and economic issues such as neoliberal policies. These arguments indicate that African popular culture is more than just entertainment. It is a public sphere. Popular culture is social facts. These artefacts proclaim their importance in the lives of large numbers of African people. They are everywhere. In Africa, people without money to spend on luxuries spend it on popular arts; they infuse them with their lives (Barber, 1987). These artefacts speak about politics, economic declines in Africa, crime, corruption, fraud, among others. Barber gives the example of popular music in West Africa that is used to teach people about politics. If this is indeed what popular culture is about, then it should be delivered or presented in a language that is appealing to the masses, in a language that the masses are comfortable with. For example, the Motswako music in South Africa uses a mixture of Setswana, tsotsitaal, Afrikaans and English to communicate to the listeners. This is evident in the works of artists such as HHP, Tusks, Notshi, and Molemi. Barber (1997) reminds us that popular culture is not just constellations of social, political, and economic issues, it is also expressive acts. It has the power to communicate. For example, one can look at Setswana novels such as Masego, and Samorerwane. The former relies on a moral story about social degeneration when teachers / parents have romantic relationships with learners / children and even have children with them. The latter’s moral story is about greed and hunger for power which is not meant for you. Setswana literature is characterised by similar moral stories which focus on social degeneration, encountering modernity and chieftaincies. Barber argues that African popular culture has much to do with consciousness, it gives us a window onto something present, but we never thought it is present. There are spaces through 20 which consciousness is achieved in Africa. This takes me to an example of oral literature. Setswana literature emerged from oral literature with the use of folk tales known as Ditlhamane: Sananapo, Tlhole le Mmutla, Mokotedi and Bana ba dithupana. All these would usually be narrated by a grandmother at night. They would be narrated in Setswana, using proverbs and idioms. These stories became a symbol to describe a reality which everyone experiences or had experienced in life. The use of Setswana language in these stories became a powerful element because everyone sitting around the narrator would understand the language, kids would even rely on the same stories when making oral presentations at schools. But the key thing is that these stories were always meant for the masses, and they relied on the language that the masses could understand. Popular culture is also a space for contestations of power and control. In many countries in the world popular culture in used as a vehicle for political messages. Television, cinema, music and theatre are used to aid the regime in controlling the masses (del Ama and Medel, 2014). Works of art continue to be used as ideological medium of elites’ propaganda, reproducing the discourse and ideologies of the ruling class. This study will reveal that the use of language of SABC soap operas is guided by strong language ideologies held by the producers and the broadcasters. Analysis of language usage in the SABC soap operas reveals the role of languages as a source in empowering and disempowering different linguistic groups as represented in these soap operas. The way languages are used in the SABC soap operas construct ethnic and linguistic identities that are hierarchised. Ultimately, the SABC language policy appears to be irrelevant in addressing the past linguistic realities of South Africa as it is not effective, it is overshadowed by the political, economic and cultural factors influencing the production of the broadcaster’s soap operas. 8. Overview of the Research Methodology 8.1. Introduction A research methodology is a general approach of conducting research; it can be qualitative or quantitative. Qualitative methodologies follow analytical and interpretative measures to answer its research questions. Quantitative methodologies, on the other hand, rely on numbers and certain amount of data to be interpreted for research questions to be answered. 21 In the case of this thesis, both approaches are relevant. This is because quantitative research methods are used in natural sciences to help understand natural phenomenon. Qualitative, on the other hand, is used in social sciences to help researchers study social and cultural phenomena (Thomas, 2010). Therefore, the case studies of this thesis are soap operas, that is, social phenomenon; hence, qualitative method becomes relevant for this paper. Since I am also interested in which languages dominate the soap operas, counting the usage or occurrences of certain languages over others is also important. Hence, a quantitative approach is also used in this study. The thesis also relies on case study research method. According to Yin (1984:23), case study research method is “an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context; when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident; and in which multiple sources of evidence are used”. Case study research provides a holistic, in-depth investigation of the problem at hand. This method enables the researcher to go beyond the quantitative statistical analysis and allows for an understanding of the phenomenon from the actor’s perspective (Zainal, 2007). Furthermore, case study researchers are known for investigating contemporary real-life phenomenon using detailed contextual analysis of the events or conditions and their relationships (Zainal, 2007). Yin (1984) gives three categories of case study research. These are exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory. Exploratory case studies explore any phenomenon in the data that is of interest to the researcher. The questions used in this category are usually general questions which open the door for further examination of the phenomenon observed (Zainal, 2007). Descriptive analysis looks for the natural phenomena which occur within the data in question. Here the researcher describes the data as it occurs (Zainal, 2007). Last, explanatory case studies: the aim here is to examine the data at the surface and deep level. From the observation, the researcher may formulate a theory and test his theory with the case study (Zainal, 2007). This thesis relies on the first and last categories, exploratory and explanatory. The former assisted me to discover more information about the implementation of language policies in the SABC. The latter allowed me to formulate an analysis about the problem at the SABC from the collected data. Considering the above, I analysed the extent to which the SABC language policies affect the use of languages in soap operas used as my case studies. In that way, the thesis is qualitative and explorative as well as descriptive in nature. 22 8.2. Research Design I have designed the research method with the focus on contextual analysis. The latter is a process of assessing how texts are constructed. The focus is on their historical and cultural settings. According to Behrendt (2008:1) “a contextual analysis combines features of a ‘cultural archeology’, or the systematic study of social, political, economic, philosophical, religious and aesthetic conditions that were in place at the time and place when the text was created”. In this thesis, I used contextual factors to understand motives behind the slow and/or skewed implementation of language policies in the SABC. This analysis pays attention to aspects such as who is responsible for language planning, policies, and implementation in SABC, who sits in the editorial board committee of the SABC and to whom do the production companies account to in terms of their creative decision (when it comes to language usage). The research design also includes face-to-face interviews with a language expert (Tebogo Tsotetsi1), ICASA official (Amos Hlabioa), the language board officials (Lufuno Ndlovu) filmmakers (Lerato Molahlehi, Inga Mtebele, Tshidiso Mtshali*2, Lerato Tsotso*, Tshiamo Masemola, Bantu Ndumiso*, Timothy Owen, Tshepo Morena, as well as audiences (Xolani Latha, Kgotso Moeng, Nkosinathi Khumalo, Lebogang Serei, Daniel Maseko, and Simon Langa). Interviews were conducted in person, except with Lufuno Ndlovu, this interview was conducted telephonically. All interviews were conducted in English to accommodate interviewees and talk in a language that would afford everyone an opportunity to express themselves freely. Ethics clearance was granted to do interviews for this study. Some of the interviewees requested that their identities be concealed especially because of their association to the SABC and production companies. For this reason, pseudo names were used for these interviewees. Other interviewees consented that their actual names be used. Interviewees were selected for their specialist knowledge in, policymaking, broadcasting and media policy making. Audience members were selected on their knowledge of watching Skeem Seem daily and knowing the soap very well. Audi Rubin and Rubin (1995:66) have argued that “all the people that you interview should satisfy three requirements. They should 1 Consent was granted to use actual names for all names without asterisks. 2 *Names have been changed at the request of the interviewees. 23 be knowledgeable about the cultural area, situation or experience being studied; they should be willing to talk; and they should represent a range of points of view”. My interview base allowed me to get a range of views and opinions on the subject matter. All interviewees were knowledgeable in the topic of this research. According to Rubin and Rubin (1995:69) “you should go for a balance in your choice of interviewees to represent all the divisions within that arena of study”. The purpose of the interviews was to find out about views on language policy implementation in South Africa and creative decisions behind language usage in the soap operas. I also adopted textual analysis as part of the research design. We use textual analysis to understand how humans make sense of the world, how various cultures and subcultures understand who they are and how they fit into the world in which they live (Vassilliou, 2006). The whole purpose of textual analysis was to find out meaning behind texts. For the context of this thesis, I performed textual analysis focusing on the use of languages, the equal representation of indigenous languages in soap operas and how soap operas are used to create and spread language ideologies. 8.3. Methods of collecting data. 8.3.1. Interviews According to Chadwick, Gill, Stewart, and Treasure (2008), the purpose of the research interview is to explore the views and experiences of individuals on specific matters. Interviews are believed to provide a deeper understanding of a phenomenon than would be the case with pure quantitative and even some qualitative methods. In this thesis, I relied on interviews to collect data because the subject matter of the study requires detailed insights from policymakers, language board, broadcasting officials, filmmakers as well as audiences. The purpose of the interviews was to get the story from language planners and filmmakers and audiences regarding issues of language policy, implementation, and usage in the SABC. I used semi-structured interviews which consisted of several key questions that helped define the research problems, but also allowed divergence from both the interviewer and interviewee. As Chadwick (et al, 2008) argue, this interview format is flexible, it allows for the elaboration of information that is important to the interviewer but may not have been thought of as pertinent by the researcher. 24 8.3.2. Contextual analysis Contextual analysis will be very important in this paper. I situated the case studies or texts that I am working with within the milieu of their times, assessing the socio-political and economic conditions of the creators of the texts, the socio-political and economic conditions in which the readers and/or audiences get to access the texts. Here I was studying the commissioning processes of new shows in SABC, the history of who have been commissioning editors since 1994. Above all, I looked at any non-textual circumstances that affect the creation and the reception of the texts. I did this by studying circumstances such historical, political, economic, cultural practices and intellectual or aesthetic issues which determine the production processes of these texts. 8.3.3. Textual analysis Botan et al (1999) explain that textual analysis is important in studying the content, structure, and functions of the messages contained in texts. For the purposes of this thesis, I studied the texts based on the usage of language and unpacked whether the usage of language reflects what policy documents advocate for. Furthermore, through the analysis of the texts, I was also able to learn that not only are issues of language a problem in the SABC soap operas, but cultural factors are also highly affected as certain cultures dominate the soap operas. 8.3.4. Quantitative Transcription Data Analysis Transcription data analysis was important as it assisted me with establishing a deeper understanding of the dialogues of the soap operas, unpack linguistic analysis of these dialogues and the ideologies behind the way dialogue is written, based on which languages are used and which ones are not. Through this method I was able to confirm that certain languages dominate SABC soap operas and others are hardly, if ever, used. I was also able to realise that in all the soaps under study, indigenous languages are subtitled in English only. No indigenous language was being used for subtitling. I analysed transcription data using the following steps: the first step was to read through the scripts and identify the number of words in the script, then count how many are in indigenous languages. Thereafter, I calculate how many languages are used in the soap in relation to the country’s languages. Secondly, I had to identify all instances of translanguaging in all the 25 transcripts. Thirdly, I calculated the percentage in which translanguaging is used in relation to indigenous languages. At this point I was able to identify few of major issues that proved the hypothesis of this study. • There is a substantive usage of indigenous languages in these soap operas. • IsiZulu is used more often than any other languages. • Languages such as isiNdebele, siSwati, Xitsonga were never used in the studied timeframe, • Tshivenda is only used in Muvhango, • Soap operas tend to use translanguaging more than they use standard languages. Therefore, I was able to argue that indeed, the way in which South African languages policy is implemented in the SABC is, on one side, flawed, and on the other side, rebellious. The former is because the usage of indigenous languages is not equal; it is not on par with the SABC language policies, ICASA guidelines as well as the constitution’s provisions which stipulate that every indigenous language must have equitable representation and usage in the SABC. The SABC language policy (2020) notes that equitable does not mean equal, but fair and reasonable. The policy further states that in this regard, the SABC aims to use all official languages on television, while ensuring that content is accessible to most of the public. However, in the studied timeframe of this thesis (January 2017 to December 2020) even “equitability” was not achieved. It is only isiZulu, isiXhosa, Sesotho, Setswana, Sepedi, and Tshivenda (in that order) that were used. On the other hand, I was also able to identify that the SABC uses these platforms to adopt and represent the linguistic realities of this country. The SABC uses these soap operas to challenge multilingual norm, they adopt and endorse disruptive multilingual practices. 9. Overview of Chapters This thesis has five chapters including an introduction and conclusion. The introduction sets the scene for this scene, outlines the field of study within which this thesis exists. The first three chapters of this thesis focus on the dominance of isiZulu in SABC 1. Chapter one focuses on the issues of language usage in Generations: The Legacy. The chapter argues that the dominance of isiZulu in the soap is because of neoliberal approach adopted by the SABC. 26 Chapter 2 focuses on the dominance of isiZulu using Uzalo as a case study. The chapter argues that Uzalo is producing language ideologies of dominance associated with isiZulu. This is caused by the political interference in the SABC. This political interference has benefited the production of Uzalo. Chapter 3 argues that Skeem Saam is another example of how isiZulu dominance is evident in SABC. This is visible through the soap shifting from having Sepedi has a dominant language to seeing isiZulu emerging as a competitive language to Sepedi. Chapter 4 and 5 takes a different angle by focusing on language issues in SABC 2. Chapter 4 argues that Muvhango’s usage of Tshivenda is a sign of resisting neoliberal multiculturalism. In this way the soap opera offers social justice to small-status languages in South Africa. In chapter the focus is on 7de Laan and how the soap is perpetuating ideologies of whiteness in post-Apartheid South Africa. In this way the soap undermines the SABC’s language policy and the national project of nation building and transformation. The conclusion of the study argues that the SABC language policy has not benefited indigenous languages equally in post-Apartheid South Africa. 27 Chapter 1: Generations: The Legacy: Embracing National Ideology and Neoliberalism, A challenge for the Language Policy. Introduction The aim of this chapter is to examine whether there are some democratic values or hierarchical norms influenced by neoliberalism and national ideology in the implementation of the SABC language policy. That is, in the former, the language policy intends to bring a democratic change to the development and sustainability of all indigenous languages. On the latter, there is a contestation for coexistence of indigenous languages. Ideologies of language hierarchies are purported through Generations: The Legacy and they ultimately become naturalised. In many ways, both democratic pluralism and/or hierarchical pluralism are influenced by neoliberalism which acts as a covert language policy determinant. Neoliberalism manifests itself as a contributor towards the extent with which the language policy comes into effect. Majhanovich (2013) contends that neoliberal market fundamentalism is a political doctrine serving certain interests. While Africa is a very multilingual place, Canagarajah (2017) has cautioned that this might serve the interests and agendas of neoliberal agencies. Africa’s multilingualism is, therefore, commodified and marketised. Duchene (2011) argues that neoliberalism is using linguistic diversity as a factor for profitability. Nonetheless, the deployment of translanguaging (as will be argued in the case of Generations: The Legacy) is a strategy to resist the influence of neoliberalism in language choice and use. As argued elsewhere in this thesis, the implementation of the SABC language policy is determined by various interconnected factors that do not serve the purpose of bringing linguistic reform. However, translanguaging is a linguistic practice which resists these factors. To assert or refute arguments, the chapter will examine the deployment of indigenous languages in Generations: The Legacy, one of the soap operas playing in SABC 1. The chapter focuses on post-1994 national agenda and neoliberalism as themes characterising the language policy and implementation. These are manifested through democratic pluralism and/or hierarchical pluralism in how the soap opera under study endorses these contributors. It is the interest of this thesis to show that these contributors have led to the domination of isiZulu in Generations: The Legacy. 28 Background and Production of Generations: The Legacy Generations: The Legacy follows the story of the Moroka family who have made their name in the media business landscape. The story is set in a world where virtue and evil are in a stellar battle for supremacy. Generations: The Legacy is not only about the Moroka family and their fight for the legacy, but also about the wealth, greed, knowledge and culture. All these themes are coupled by storylines which unfold through suspense, intrigue and tension. Generations: The Legacy is a comeback show of the original storyline which was called Generations. From September 30, 2014 to November 30, 2014 the series was put on hold following salary disputes between the actors and the employees. As a result, sixteen (16) of the original cast was fired and replaced with new cast members with a new storyline. Before and until 1993, all soap operas in SABC were not produced locally. These included: Dallas and Santa Barbara which played on Bophuthatswana TV (a television station for the former Bophuthatswana homeland in South Africa (Motsaathebe, 2009). Before then, the only soap operas South Africans knew were broadcast on Springbok radio (one of SABC’s radio stations in 1953 (Teer-Tomaselli et al. 1989; Motsaathebe, 2009). Other popular American soap operas to dominate the SABC have been The Bold and Beautiful and Days of Our Lives. Tager (2002) states American soap operas have had a mass appeal among Black South Africans, as a result, audiences connected with these characters on aspects of emotions and their lives. Audiences have a sense of aspirations towards the lives that characters are living. American soap operas have created an interpersonal relationship with their viewers, in a sense that they discuss romance, marital issues, family problems and so forth (Ahmed, 2012). This has always been one of the effects of American soap operas on black audiences, they give their audiences a chance to release their emotions as well as to fantasise (Ahmed, 2012). The result of this is that local soap operas had to endorse and adopt the same trajectory that has been established by American soap operas. In 1993 the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was set up under the Independent Broadcast Authority Act (No. 153 of 1993). The purpose of the IBA was to provide regulation of broadcasting for the public interest and transform the SABC. As a result of the transformation mandate, Mfundi Vundla was approached to create a soap opera for the SABC and Generations, now Generations: The Legacy, was produced (Motsaathebe, 2009). Vundla, 29 cited in (Motsaathebe, 2009:431) revealed his objectives with the soap operas, “Generations made its debut on public broadcaster SABC after Apartheid ended in 1994, aiming to show blacks in a positive light after years of television drama cast Africans as unsophisticated, superstitious idiots who visited witch doctors to solve problems”. Generations has always reflected on the demographics of post-Apartheid South Africa. The programme started showing us black characters who had shares in one of the biggest advertising companies in Africa and listed on Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), Ezweni Communications. The soap portrayed black economic empowerment. The focus of the soap has always been on rich black families contrasted with poor black families. According to Shota (2005:3), “when it was launched on 3 February 1993, Generations was a huge success. For the first time, viewers were exposed to black people who lived in mansions, wore Hugo Boss suits, made and broke international deals and, best of all…black viewers were hooked”. The storyline has continued to do the same; it has continued to hook the black audience all these years through its aspirational narratives that continue to glamorise and popularise black success. Generations was tasked with the responsibility to depict the needs, dreams, and aspirations of black South Africa by portraying them as prosperous businesspersons living and working in suburbs (Tager, 2010). From the onset, Generations was meant to be a multilingual and multiracial production which would portray the South Africa of post-Apartheid. Tager (2010) argues that it may be inferred that the board and management of SABC by that time were propagators of the then discourses of hope, solidarity, harmony, and social cohesion of post- Apartheid South Africa. According to Tager (2010:100), the production and consumption of the then Generations, now Generations: The Legacy is driven by ‘political economic determinates”, that is, prescribed guidelines by the SABC regarding how the popular media should be configured. In this case, the soap opera is used to build a collective identity which is driven by neoliberalism and national discourses. This a process through which we are invited to scrutinise the language usage in the soap opera because it is undermining the language policy. Generations: The Legacy continues the mandate of the old storyline; it reflects the transformation (socially and economically) of the new South Africa. The story presents viewers with black nouveau riche as opposed to bourgeoisie (who have been established a century ago), something which was not the case in the pre-1994 South Africa. The soap 30 compares the lives of black people in South Africa, the rich and the poor. For example, in the story we are presented with the Diale family. The family lives together in Alexander, one of the most impoverished townships in South Africa. In the Diale family are the following members: Gog Flo, she is the grandmother to Lucy, Cosmo / Thembinkosi and Getty. There is also Lesedi, a teenage girl that Gog Flo adopted. Gog Flo is on pension. Both Lucy and Cosmo run a drug operation business. Lucy runs an alcohol drinking spot, locally known as a shebeen and Cosmo also owns a barbeque/braai restaurant, locally known as Chesanyama. Both the shebeen and Chesanyama are fronting businesses used to cover up for the illicit money made from the drug business. On the other side of town is an upmarket suburb known as Sandton. There, the Moroka family, a very wealthy advertising mogul family lives. The family is led by Mazwi Moroka. The family also has interests in mining, tourism and property. However, because of greed, the family never has peace. They always want to acquire more, even if it means getting involved in illegal dealings. Neoliberalism and Popular Culture in South Africa Neoliberalism is an important contributor to the use of indigenous languages in the SABC. It is imperative to offer a usable definition of neoliberalism for the context of this study. Harvey’s definition is suitable. According to him, neoliberalism is a Theory of political economic practices that proposes that human well-being can best be advanced by liberating individual entrepreneurial freedoms and skills within an institutional framework characterised by strong private rights, free markets, and free trade (Harvey, 2005:2). The driving ideology behind neoliberalism is that individuals, communities and institutions must be independent, they should run their enterprises without looking for assistance. Failure in this ideology is understood as one’s lack of agency and effort. Individualism is the driving force behind neoliberalism. Neoliberalism is one of the defining themes of language planning, policy, and implementation in South Africa. The post-1994 economic policies shaped South Africa’s neoliberal approach (Narsiah, 2002; Schneider, 2003; and Sebake, 2017). The result of this was that market influences became dominant in shaping local policies. Neoliberalism, as a 31 result, plays a significant role in how the language policy is adopted and implemented. As it will be seen during this study, market favours stability and certainty. A language policy that disturbs policy certainty is a concern to the market. Therefore, uplifting one language to dominance is a benefit for the market as it creates certainty about the linguistic condition within which the market operates. This has been a role of neoliberalism and languages globally. It divides and conquers. The result of this is that more languages are getting marginalised while some continue rising to the position of superiority. Globally, multilingualism has been heralded as a desirable turn towards more inclusive communicative policies. However, Flores (2013), (Kubota, 2014), and Canagarajah (2017) caution that this might serve the interests and agendas of neoliberal agencies. Neoliberal economics and ideologies have no interests in social elevation of the people; their only focus is on profit-making. The same caution can also be applied to multilingualism. Multilingualism has been a norm against monolingual ideologies stemming from the 17th century European modernity that it has even overlooked other linguistic cultures. This reinforces a view that language is power. Socio-political and economic power determines the degree to which multilingualism succeeds or fails. Language, in this case, is used to serve elite interest. This has been the case with South Africa. The reason multilingualism in South Africa remains a theoretical reality but never materialises practically is that language is used in such a way that it includes and excludes. Language has become a liberator and an oppressive tool. Neoliberalism has found its expression at the SABC. Commercial interests are likely to determine and sway the operations of the institution around simply because they are the engine behind the institution’s financial income. This has led to Curran (1997), Howley (2004), Kupe (2005) to argue that PSBs are now completely covered by commercial interests. Public interests can still be seen, but it is not as intense as commercial interests. They have become more commercialised by always having to secure advertising revenue. Hence, Mooney (2004) argues that PSBs are losing their identities by pursuing the commercial model. This is the reason why only one language can stand out from the rest. The notion of equal utilisation of indigenous languages has become a myth because the SABC is partially endorsing it. This is how we get to realise the power of neoliberalism as a covert language policy determinant; it subtly indicates that commercial interests are more important and powerful 32 than non-commercial interests. Neoliberalism determines which language is appropriate to sell a brand. With the high revenue in the SABC generated from advertising, the danger is that the public interest is clouded by the market orientation. Canagarajah (2017) cautions that neoliberalism cannot promote social interests as this threatens its profit-making accumulation. It is important to note, as Canagarajah (2017) argues, that neoliberal agencies might adopt certain dispositions and language practices that are disruptive, that have been identified as transformative, however, that will only happen if such practices do not threaten profit accumulation. If neoliberalism does not recognise Tshivenda, Xitsonga or siSwati as a relevant language to sell its product(s), it will not advertise its product during a time in which that language is dominating, except if there is a high viewership for that programme. This means that the language is being commodified, if it does not attract enough viewers, then there will not be advertising during the programme that uses that language. Therefore, the SABC will call off the programme because it does not generate them money. McChesney (1999) argues that PSBs are afraid of challenging commercial systems in their models. This suggests that we should not only focus on language practices, for example, how best multilingualism is viewed, we should also consider these language practices in relation to the interests they serve and the ideologies informing their use. Elizur (1998) argues that commercial interests in the form of advertising have impoverished television as a social-educational tool in Israel. Television in Israel has to some degree brainwashed people with programming that perpetuates national discourses that the government want people to know. Nye (2006) argues that in democratic countries governments cannot easily control the population or feed them propaganda as the media is free and independent. However, they rely on broadcasting in a form of documentaries, films and soaps to spread their propaganda. They rely on soft power (Lin and Hongtao, 2017), that is, governments make people do as the government wishes without force or laws of the army. Governments use cultural tools such as media to achieve its aims. Soft power is synonymous with hegemony. Neoliberal markets are not pro social justice. Most importantly, this analysis illustrates why isiZulu is a dominant language in Generations: The Legacy. This is partly due to neoliberal policies and national ideology of the post-Apartheid government that influences the SABC. However, it is important to ask whether these factors are benefiting indigenous languages equally. Do they help bring the language policy into effect? What makes the implementation of the language policy to become a reality? 33 Mhlambi (2012) contextualises the relationship between neoliberalism, popular culture, and isiZulu in post-Apartheid South Africa. Mhlambi (2012) argues that the period around 2006 until 2009 saw the popularisation of ringtone of songs in isiZulu which were meant to mobilise support for the former president of South Africa, then deputy president, Jacob Zuma, in his corruption and rape charges he was facing as well as removal from his deputy presidency position. The ringtone songs gained popularity as people downloaded them and started using them as means of entertainment. This led to the commercialisation and commodification of the songs. Mobile network companies, insurance companies and banking systems started to offer their services in isiZulu (Mhlambi, 2012). What this signifies is the profit-interest that capitalist systems have on languages. It was only until various isiZulu cultural groups made songs about Zuma in isiZulu that capitalist formations gained interest in isiZulu because they realised the rapid growth and influence that the ringtone songs in isiZulu had on the black population. In this case, the interest on isiZulu by these capitalist formations was not on promoting the language, but on commercialising and commodifying the language for their own benefits. Public Service Broadcasting and languages: New Perspectives Public Service Broadcasters (PSBs) play a significant role in enforcing the national agenda. One of the central goals of broadcasting, especially public broadcasting has always been to promote the nation’s aspiration to deliberative democracy (Sunsetin, 2000). Oregeret (2004) states that the restructuring of television in South Africa after 1994 followed the national narrative of unity. In most cases, the national ideology or imagined community portrayed in public broadcasters excludes certain identities or nations (La Pastina etal, 2014). A typical example is that of Brazilian telenovelas, La Pastina, Straubhaar and Sifuentes (2014) argue that certain Brazilians say the Brazil they see on television does not represent them. Scholars such as Souza (2010), Neri (2010), Pochmanm (2012), La Pastina, Straubhaar and Sifuentes (2014) state that this representation is influenced by the ones who have power to determine the national agenda. Countries such as Peru have relied on the national broadcaster to help portray the country in a way that will please the world. From the above argument, this thesis adds a new view to the existing scholarship and argue that public broadcastings are conflicted between portraying the national interest versus the 34 public interest. I further argue that the SABC portrays both, but due to the economic interests, it is leaning towards national interests more because that is where it gets its funding from. This view is further purported by the fact that PSBs operate in highly capitalised societies than they did when they were first established. This has a huge impact on the extent to which they uphold their public interest mandate. As a result, they are vulnerable to commercial interests. The other contribution to the scholarship is that language policies fail or take a long time to achieve their aims, which is to bring about language reform. In highly capitalist modern states, the market beats the tune and social justice/cause dances. The thesis contends, then, that the national agenda perpetuated through PSBs is an interconnected process wherein politics and economics fight for power and dominance. Capitalism and Linguistic Practices: Reality for Indigenous Language Capitalism does not permit an even flow or utilisation of languages, indigenous languages in the context of this study. Capitalism, through its offspring such as neoliberalism, does not benefit indigenous languages equally. In the words of Mbembe (2004:394), post-Apartheid South Africa is filled with “public theatres of late capitalism”. Hassan (2003) reminds us that capitalism has affected the material and semiotic basis of our cultures. The way we speak and communicate with one another is being shaped and modelled by global capitalism. As a result, there remains a huge challenge for indigenous languages in South Africa as they do not yet have the same status as English and even Afrikaans. Therefore, the choice of language one adopts is a means of survival. What we speak and how we speak is a product of socioeconomic and political determinants. Capitalism does not only determine our linguistic practices, it also determines our nationhood. Capitalism produces nation states. According to Bresser-Pereira (2008), nationalism is a fruit of a capitalist tree that also produced another bourgeois ideology, liberalism. Nationalism is used by capitalism to produce unity among nations for free economic development. Therefore, the success of capitalism is strengthened when the working class and the professionals put aside their differences and embrace a common identity and rally together in competition with other nations (Bresser-Pereira, 2008). 35 Ives (2007) asserts that, the construction of national belonging has become entrenched with complicated global neoliberalism. Ideologies of national belonging and global neoliberalism work together to determine how the language policy is put into effect. For reference purposes, Heller (2007) argues that, language practices are politically and socially influenced, they are governed by nationalist and capitalist ideologies. Bhatch (2010) argues that even the way language is used in public spheres it is not due to some coincidence or coexistence of linguistic resources, it is shaped by various factors, democracy, autocracy, globalization, economics, migration and technology. Thus, language use is an identity construction, in this case, linguistic identities are shaped by nationalist and capitalist ideologies. Capitalism, through neoliberalism and the national ideology, has not yet benefited the linguistic reform of the post-1994. Neoliberalism and national ideology work as covert language policy elements, that is, they determine how and when the language policy is implemented. Therefore, the power of neoliberalism and the national ideology has been able to create a structure in which isiZulu is the dominant language in Generations: The Legacy as will be shown in this research. Popular cultural platforms are used as sites through which the hierarchy of indigenous languages is created by neoliberalism and national ideology. The everyday or popular cultural artefacts are sites through which language use and language ideologies are spread and normalised, hence the dominance of isiZulu. The focus of this thesis is on Generations: The Legacy to study these claims. The dominance of isiZulu in Generations: The Legacy is being normalised/naturalised because it ties up to the notions of national belonging, national agenda, and nation building. The soap was commissioned in 1994 to promote these ideals, hence, even its usage of languages reflects such a mandate. Neoliberalism has put indigenous languages into a hierarchy and isiZulu is sitting at the top of that hierarchy. This hierarchy is further supported through the national ideology. This emphasises that language is power. Both political and economic power dynamics determine language use. According to Heller (2007:2) languages are a set of “resources which circulate in unequal ways in social networks and discursive places”. This explains that language and language policies are not power-free institutions, they are embedded with power relations and/or power contestation. The dominance of isiZulu in Generations: The Legacy is because of these power relations, it is not a natural phenomenon, it is being manufactured to appear as normal and natural. 36 The use of language in Generations: The Legacy does not take into consideration the injustices of the past on indigenous languages, that they all suffered the same fate. Rather, the one that is close to power is the one that is enjoying the benefits. What I mean by “it is close to power” is that in the absence of English, it is the most preferred indigenous language among the elites, especially politicians (Snail, 2011, Masondo, 2015, Madlala and Mkhize, 2019). This approach is unfair and deranged because it does not offer a holistic approach to uplifting the status of indigenous languages; it focuses on one or a few which are endorsed by the elites. In this case, Generations: The Legacy is embattled in providing a forum for constructing, reflecting and contesting the national imagery as well as upholding the neoliberal interests. The results are dire for other indigenous languages because they are not being used or where they are used, it is not to the same degree as isiZulu. This can only mean that the national imagery itself is skewed, it favours some and marginalises others. The role of