'Jou MASE taal' unpacks the power and politics of Afrikaans

FOR around seven million South Africans, Afrikaans plays a defining role in identity, community and culture.

- OLUTHANDO KETEYI

But what happens when that same language also carries pain, alienates people and raises questions about belonging? These are the questions at the heart of Jou MASE taal, a new documentary series that starts on Sunday at 8pm on kykNET (DStv channel 144).

The series explores the complex relationship black and coloured Afrikaans speakers have with the language: how they live it, how it makes them feel, and whether they embrace or reject it.

Romantha Botha, the content producer of the series, got the idea from her frustration with the way people talk about Afrikaans, especially among black and coloured South Africans.

“If I had to hear one more time: ‘Wow, you speak Afrikaans so well’ or that it’s an ‘oppressor’s language we should get rid of; I would have lost it. 1 knew Afrikaans was much more than that, and I wanted to tell the other stories of the people who keep the language alive”