Afrikaans banter sparks row
Pretoria - An English-speaking person's loathing of Afrikaans caused an employer to warn two of the co-workers not to speak Afrikaans again.
The pair, members of Solidarity trade union, work for Chrome International SA in Newcastle.
Solidarity's Jaco Kleynhans said Ferdinand Lubbe and Louis Cooper were charged departmentally because they spoke to each other in Afrikaans on their two-way radio systems.
Lubbe is a process controller and Cooper a senior production operator.
A colleague, Terry Nicholson, laid a complaint, saying that on the night of June 23 he repeatedly asked the two to "please" speak English on their radios.
At the hearing, Lubbe testified that he had no problem speaking English on the radio.
However, everyone who worked that night understood Afrikaans well and some of the conversations about which Nicholson had complained had had nothing to do with their work.
Lubbe said: "Company rules state that English has to be spoken to ensure understanding.
"Understanding was not an issue on this night. Neither production time nor the standard of our work were compromised through our language usage."
Nicholson, the foreman, had a problem with Afrikaans, according to Lubbe.
He told us several times he hated Afrikaans because he had to speak it in the old army.
According to testimony, Nicholson liked to mock Afrikaans speakers "as if they were dumb".
Lubbe also emphasised that he didn't mind speaking English to colleagues who did not understand Afrikaans.
"However, I feel it is an insult... to speak English to an Afrikaans speaker while everyone understand Afrikaans," he added.
According to Kleynhans, Solidarity is seeing increasing language discrimination against its members in the workplace.
"We are very concerned that multilingualism in the workplace is starting to die out.
"There should be an urgent review into ways to protect and respect workers' linguistic rights, taking practical considerations into regard."
Kleynhans said both Lubbe and Cooper had received a written warning.
"We would like to see that it is required of every company to compose an internal communication policy which would regulate multiligualism in the workplace."
News source: www.news24.co.za
Posted by: www.SouthAfrica-CarHire.com
Jaa boet. Dis nou 'n issue ne? Maar ons agents praat almal english en afrikaans mos
Click Click... Vroom, Vroom
