The 11 languages of South Africa

Afrikaans evolved out of a 17th-century Dutch dialect introduced to South Africa in 1652 when the Dutch first colonised the Cape of Good Hope. Today it is the majority language of the Northern Cape.

Afrikaans became an official language in South Africa with the Official Languages of the Union Act of 1925, which retroactively dated the language’s official status to 1910.

The 6,855,082 South Africans who speak Afrikaans as a first language make up 13.5% of the country’s total population. More than half (50.2%) of these Afrikaans speakers are coloured, 39.5% white, 8.8% black, 0.9% Indian or Asian, and 0.6% other.

More than three-quarters (75.8%) of coloured South Africans speak Afrikaans, as do almost two-thirds (60.8%) of whites. It is the home language of 4.6% of Indian or Asian people, and of 1.5% of black South Africans.

Most Afrikaans speakers (41%) live in the Western Cape, and 21% in Gauteng. Ten percent of all Afrikaans speakers live in the Eastern Cape, 8.8% in the Northern Cape, and 5% in the Free State.

Within the provinces, Afrikaans is the majority language in the Northern Cape (53.8%) and the Western Cape (49.7%). It makes up 12.7% of languages spoken in the Free State, 12.4% of Gauteng’s languages, 10.6% of languages in the Eastern Cape, 9% in North West, 7.2% in Mpumalanga, 2.6% in Limpopo and 1.6% in KwaZulu-Natal.

English is a prominent language in South African public life, widely used in government, business and the media. As a first language it is mainly confined to the cities.

In 1910 English and Dutch were declared the official languages of the new Union of South Africa. English has retained this official status ever since.

The 4,892,623 South Africans who speak English as a first language make up 9.6% of the country’s total population. Among first-language English speakers, 32.8% are white, 23.9% black, 22.4% Indian and 19.3% coloured.

The majority (86.1%) of Indian South Africans speak English as their home language, as do over a third (35.9%) of whites. It is the first language of 20.8% of coloured people, and of 2.9% of black South Africans.

The largest number of English speakers are in Gauteng – 1.6-million people, or a third (32.8%) of all English-speaking South Africans. Over a quarter (27.3%) live in KwaZulu-Natal, 23.5% in the Western Cape, and 7.4% in the Eastern Cape.

English is a minority language within all nine provinces.

It is the second-largest language in both the Western Cape (after Afrikaans) and Gauteng (after isiZulu). In the Western Cape it is spoken by 20.2% of the population, and in Gauteng by 13.3%. English is minimally spoken in the other provinces.

IsiNdebele is the least spoken of South Africa’s 11 official languages, and confined mainly to Mpumalanga and Gauteng. It is an Nguni language, like isiZulu, isiXhosa and siSwati. Also called Southern Ndebele, it is not to be confused with Northern Ndebele, more commonly known as Matabele, which is closer to isiZulu and an official language of Zimbabwe.

The 1,090,223 South Africans who speak isiNdebele as a first language make up just 2.1% of the country’s total population. Among first-language isiNdebele speakers, 97% are black, 0.9% Indian or Asian, 0.8% coloured, 0.8% white and 0.5% other.

IsiNdebele is spoken by 2.6% of black South Africans – fewer than the 2.9% who speak English at home. It is barely spoken by other population groups, being the home language of 0.2% of both the coloured and white population, and 0.8% of Indian or Asian people. It is also spoken by 2.1% of people who describe themselves as “other”.

Most isiNdebele speakers (37%) live in Mpumalanga, followed by Gauteng (34.9%), KwaZulu-Natal (10.2%), Limpopo (9.6%) and North West (4%).

IsiNdebele is a minority language in all the provinces. It is spoken by 10.1% of the population of Mpumalanga and 3.2% of Gautengers.

The dominant language of the Eastern Cape, isiXhosa is also the second-largest language in South Africa after isiZulu. It is an Nguni language, like isiNdebele, isiZulu and siSwati, but also shows some influence from the Khoekhoe languages.

The 8,154,258 South Africans who speak isiXhosa as a first language make up 16% of the country’s total population. Among first-language isiXhosa speakers, 99.4% are black, 0.3% coloured, 0.2% white and 0.1% Indian or Asian.

Among the population groups, isiXhosa is spoken by 20.1% of black South Africans, the second-largest share after isiZulu. It is the home language of 0.6% of coloured people, 0.4% of Indians, 0.3% of whites and 1.9% of people who describe themselves as “other”.

Close to two-thirds (62.4%) of first-language isiXhosa speakers live in the Eastern Cape, and 17.2% in the Western Cape. About a tenth (9.8%) of all isiXhosa speakers live in Gauteng.

Within the provinces, isiXhosa is the majority language in the Eastern Cape, where its 5,092,152 first-language users make up 78.8% of the population. In the Western Cape a quarter (24.7%) of the population speaks isiXhosa. IsiXhosa is spoken by 7.5% of people in the Free State, 6.6% in Gauteng, 5.5% in North West, and 5.3% in the Northern Cape.