Road Accident Fund Act, 1996 (Act No. 56 of 1996)Board NoticesRoad Accident Fund Language Policy7. Policy Content |
| 7.1 | This policy takes into account the Constitution and a range of legislative and regulatory requirements - in particular those contained in' the Act and its related Regulations. |
| 7.1.1 | The Constitution seeks to democratise languages and states that all languages have equal status and are to be treated equitably. |
| 7.1.2 | While the Constitution equalises the status of all the languages, it does not seek to enforce rigid use of all of them. Rather, the use of language should be guided by the practical and contextual considerations including trends in the use, needs and audience language preference. |
| 7.2 | The Use of Official languages Act obligations |
| 7.2.1 | The Act establishes a framework for language policy development in South Africa. |
| 7.2.2 | Provision is made for the use of eleven South African languages in Official language function, thereby promoting a climate of multilingualism. |
| 7.2.3 | The status of the indigenous languages shall be elevated and advanced. |
| 7.3 | All official languages shall be accorded parity of esteem and equitable treatment: |
| 7.3.1 | Everyone has the right to use the language and to participate in the cultural life of their choice, but no one exercising these rights may do so in a manner inconsistent with any provision of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution. |
| 7.3.2 | Persons belonging to a cultural, religious or linguistic community may not be denied the right, with other members of that community, to enjoy their culture, practice their religion and use their language. |
| 7.3.3 | On the issue of correspondence with individual citizens, communication is to be conducted in the preferred official language of the citizen. |
| 7.3.4 | For external oral communication, English should be used and, depending on the target group(s), at least one other spoken language. |
| 7.3.5 | Certain languages should be allocated to publications for both internal and external communication. This should entail that the languages from mutually intelligible groups should be rotated. |
| 7.4 | Language Policy Standards |
| 7.4.1 | Dominant languages tend to differ from province to province and from one region to another. |
| 7.4.2 | However, some languages are widely understood beyond provincial and regional borders. It is therefore essential to understand both regional and provincial language variations in order to produce communication material that will be appropriate to different people in various contexts. |
| 7.4.3 | The Nguni languages (isiXhosa, isiZulu, isiNdebele and isiSwati) can be grouped together on the basis of linguistic similarities between them, and likewise, so can the Sesotho languages (Sesotho, Setswana, and Sepedi). Following this, the RAF will select the following configuration of languages: |
| 7.4.3.1 | One Nguni language; |
| 7.4.3.2 | One Sesotho language; or |
| 7.4.3.3 | One Tshivenda and/or Xitsonga |
| 7.5 | Internal Oral Communication |
| 7.5.1 | English shall be the operating language of the RAF. The above recommended official languages may be used where the situation warrants or demands it. |
| 7.5.2 | There shall be no discrimination on the basis of language in the RAF. |
| 7.5.3 | Linguistic, diversity shall be managed with the same fairness and sensitivity as other aspects of diversity within the RAF. |
| 7.5.4 | The language rights applicable in specific circumstances to all members of the RAF shall be respected. |
| 7.6 | External Oral Communication |
| 7.6.1 | Subject to the language policy standards set out in paragraph 7.4, and further subject to paragraph 7.3.4, English shall be the operating language of the RAF. The other official languages may be used where the situation warrants or demands it. |
| 7.6.2 | Communicators shall ensure that what they want to communicate is, in fact, understood by their target audiences(s). |
| 7.6.3 | Linguistic diversity shall be managed with the same fairness and sensitivity as other instances of diversity. |
| 7.7 | Written Internal Communication |
| 7.7.1 | Internal correspondence, training and instruction manuals, publications (newsletters, bulletin boards, annual reports, etc.) shall be published in English. |
| 7.7.2 | The other official languages may be used where the situation warrants or demands it. |
| 7.8 | Written External Communication |
| 7.8.1 | Correspondence with local, national and international stakeholders will be in English, unless a special request is made for the use of another official language. |
| 7.8.2 | The Language Unit will be used in cases where there is a special request for a specific publication in another official language. |
| 7.9 | Labour Relations Documents |
| 7.9.1 | Conditions of service, internal policy documents, job interviews, disciplinary hearings performance agreements, health and safety requirements will be published and/or conducted in English unless the situation dictates otherwise. |
| 7.10 | Translation and Interpreting Services |
| 7.10.1 | The RAF shall maximise language expertise within the Language Unit, where applicable. |
| 7.10.2 | Where necessary, contracting out or translation and interpreting services will be desirable to ensure effectiveness of communication. |