Revitalizing the Khwedam Language
Led by Moshe Kxoegoe Maghundu, the founder of the Southern African San Development Organisation, the project is publishing Khwedam learning materials and holding a three-month-long language workshop.
This post was written by Wikitongues intern Andrew Kline.
Before Bantu-speaking populations spread across sub-Saharan Africa over 5,000 years ago, the San people were the first cultures to exist in Southern Africa. The San live across areas that are now part of Botswana, Angola, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa and are ancestral speakers of various Tuu, Kxʼa, and Khoe languages. Although they had practiced semi-nomadic lifestyles for thousands of years, government mandates in the 20th century forced San communities into agriculture. Many San feel as though they are excluded from government decision-making processes and have no say in issues that affect their well-being. In the 2013 Human Rights Report conducted by the U.S. Department of State, they described discrimination against the San as being the “principal human rights concern” in Botswana, the country with the highest San population in Southern Africa.
Today, Khwedam, a Khoe language spoken by around 8,000 people (as of 2011), faces external pressure from dominant Bantu (e.g., Setswana and Zulu) and European languages (i.e., Afrikaans and English). Namibia’s Zambezi Region, part of the Caprivi Strip that extends east towards the hugely significant Zambezi River, is home to many Khwedam speakers along with other nearby countries. Crucially, the Khwedam language is not taught or used in education, and government-mandated forced migrations have spread out speakers of the language. In 1990, for example, the South African government relocated 4000 Xhu- and Khwe-speaking people to Schmidtsdrift and later Platfontein, South Africa. This is only one of the many attempted ethnic cleansings that have geographically isolated Khwedam speakers throughout southern Africa. Regressive, racist stereotypes and rumors targeting San people are still prevalent in parts of society in Southern Africa. Ideas of Khwe people being “non-human” are all too common in the region that the San call home.
Moshe Kxoegoe Maghundu, the founder of the Southern African San Development Organisation (SASDO), is leading a project with the goal of publishing Khwedam learning materials and holding a three-month-long Khwedam language workshop. Moshe is a Khwe man originally from the Caprivi Strip in northeast Namibia. He now lives in Platfontein, Kimberley, South Africa, where he has worked for the national broadcaster (SABC) since 2010. In 2017, Moshe founded SASDO, which supports the development of San communities in Platfontein. It is an organization “established for the development of the San people in Southern Africa,” working with all age groups and putting an emphasis on empowering unemployed youth and women’s groups. The San people, who have called Southern Africa their home for longer than any other inhabitants, are burdened with some of the worst socio-economic challenges in the region. San communities face continuously rising unemployment and a large-scale epidemic of poverty. SASDO was established to fill the void of an organization dedicated to eradicating poverty and promoting development in San communities. As mentioned earlier, harmful and dehumanizing rumors about Khwe and San people still exist in the minds of some in Southern Africa. This “othering” effect shows itself in the form of linguistic prejudice and ignorance as well. Moshe told us that most times he uses his mother tongue in public, whether in his native Namibia or in Platfontein, people turn to look. The phonemic click sounds that are prevalent in Khwedam and other Khoe and San languages draw the negative attention of others, he says. In one striking story, a stranger in Namibia approached Moshe after hearing him speak Khwedam on the telephone, noting that he didn’t think it was “possible” to communicate with that language over the phone. This story, along with many others that Khwe people experience each day, demonstrate the harmful effects of racist rumors and is a prime example of linguistic profiling.
Despite the harmful rhetoric displayed by some, SASDO and many San are actively showing their linguistic freedom, both in daily life and on social media. Moshe explained that he has seen many Khwe youth using their language on social media, resilient to the systemic and social pressures around them. In an age where Western influence via colonialism and economic pressure is extremely prevalent, showing this linguistic freedom is paramount. Many youngsters frequently switch between Khwedam, Afrikaans, and English in their speech due to westernization and the importance placed on the de jure language of English. SASDO’s events have become a forum for Khwedam-speakers to showcase their language through music and other art forms. The San have a rich cultural heritage that can be supported and upheld through the performing arts. Hosting events called “San Exchanges Festivals,” SASDO unites San communities and artists from all across Southern Africa in celebrations of cultural teaching and learning. They link together up-and-coming artists with those who are more established to help the newer performers as much as they can.
Moshe’s project centers around a series of workshops held over three months. These workshops will help develop learning materials to be used in SASDO schools for the first and second grades, as well as guiding materials for Khwedam teachers. Moshe explained that many teachers would need to be trained in order for them to teach the language effectively. The learning materials will include storybooks, alphabet-learning books, and language exercises that will be instrumental in encouraging youth to use and learn their ancestral language at the systemic level. “The issue is only a few [people] can write,” said Moshe when explaining the rationale behind hosting the workshop in coordination with publishing educational materials and books. German missionaries have worked with the language in the past and created a dictionary, which has since been digitized in the form of an app. But because Khwedam is almost exclusively a spoken language and its writing system is not widely adopted, not many people who wish to use the available resources can. These difficulties are compounded by the growing pressure of national or regional languages.
Moshe’s project is just the beginning: SASDO’s long-term plans would bring their community engagement to San in neighboring Southern African countries. Moshe discussed his goal of establishing satellite SASDO offices in Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe that would collaborate with one another and leave no San community out of the development that Moshe’s organization is pushing for. This is only part of the future for SASDO. As part of efforts for the preservation of the Khwedam language and culture, Moshe has outlined the establishment of a living museum. SASDO records the audio and video from each and every one of their events, providing hours of material for preservation. This museum would showcase art, music, tradition, and language unique to the Khwe people. It would serve as a tool for education for Khwe youth across the region. “We want to portray both the current and historical cultural moments of the San. Our collection is waiting to end up in a museum one day. That is our dream.”, says SASDO.
Finally, SASDO is pushing to transform the educational and political landscape of South Africa. Currently, South Africa has 11 official languages, the fourth most of any country in the world. But none of these are languages of the Indigenous San people. In addition, the educational system in the country places all of the emphasis on Afrikaans and English which effectively discourages the use of languages like Khwedam among young people. SASDO is aiming to reform the education system in South Africa to better support Khwedam and other San languages. Moshe says that although he speaks Khwedam at home, he switches to Afrikaans as soon as he leaves the house. “I want to see my language used for teaching at schools and I want to read books in my own language. We need resources and training to make this happen.” said Moshe. Moshe and SASDO are not only working to ensure that the next generations of San children learn to speak their ancestral language. They are working for a future where Khwedam is a bigger part of education, the literary arts, and community discourse.
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