Use of Free State Official Languages Act
The Use of Free State Official Languages Act, Act No. 1 of 2017, will come into effect on 1 June 2017 as proclaimed by the Premier of the Free State, Hon ES Magashule, in the Provincial Gazette on 12 May 2017.
This Act applies to all Free State provincial departments and provincial public entities with the objective of regulating and monitoring the use of official languages for government purposes, promoting equitable treatment of official languages of the Free State, and good language management for efficient public service administration while serving the inhabitants of the Free State province.
The Act gives expression to the Free State Provincial Government language policy adopted by the Executive Council; and empowers the MEC for the Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation (DSACR) to establish a provincial language unit to advise her on policy and strategy relating to the above mentioned objectives; and an interdepartmental language forum to promote coordination, cooperation, and consultation between provincial departments and public entities on the use of official languages for government purposes.
In terms of this Act every provincial department or entity must appoint a Language Official to advise its HOD or Accounting Officer on the implementation of the language policy and to compile a report for submission to the MEC for DSACR.
The HODs and Accounting Officers are obliged to report to the MEC for DSACR on the implementation of the language policy in their departments and entities annually. The MEC will, in turn, report annually, to the Provincial Legislature of the Free State, on the status and use of official languages by the Provincial Government for government purposes.
In her 2017/18 Budget Vote Speech, MEC Leeto stated that, “To date we have assisted all local municipalities in the province, and the Mangaung Metro, to develop their own Language Policies. We will further assist these municipalities in the implementation and monitoring of implementation of their language policies during the 2017/18 financial year.
We are glad to report the “Use of Free State Official Languages Bill” has been approved by the Free State Legislature. We want to express our gratitude to all stakeholders who have participated in this process. The Language Bill directs us to establish a fully-fledged Language Unit across the board.”
Enquiries:
Tankiso Zola
Tel: 051 4104742/4786/4735
Cell: 082 940 2392
E-mail: tankiso@sacr.fs.gov.za
