The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture wishes Ouma Katrina Esau a very happy 90th birthday.
The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture wishes Ouma Katrina Esau a very happy 90th birthday. Truly Ouma Katrina has lived through difficult times and has faced many challenges along the way. Yet she has persevered through her love of this land and it's people and through a love of a language that she calls her own, the N|uu Language.
She is truly a living linguistic legend of her times, doing extraordinary work in popularizing and sharing the knowledge of her language and culture in her efforts to teach others.
It is fitting that her milestone birthday takes place in the month in which we also commemorate International Mother Language Day which takes place on the 21 February. This year the theme of this day is: "Multilingual education, a necessity to transform education". This theme also encapsulates the work of Ouma Katrina whose most important life's work has been devoted to educating younger generations of their linguistic birth right.
She has decried the fact that growing up under apartheid meant that she and her generation were continuously deprived of their language and forced to adopt others. It is through her work and especially those of her family members over the years and the entire linguistic community that we have been able to support efforts in preserving and promoting the N|uu language. We look forward to expanding this work and we say: Ouma Katrina, may the sun shine brightly on you for many years to come.
For media enquiries please contact:
Zimasa Velaphi: (Chief Director: Communication & Marketing) |
Email; ZimasaV@dsac.gov.za
Cell: 072 172 8925
Masechaba Khumalo: Spokesperson (Minister)
Email: MasechabaK@dsac.gov.za
Cell: 082 858 4415
