Award-winning South African-born movie star Charlize Theron’s comments about Afrikaans heading for extinction have sparked a debate.
Theron, who grew up in Benoni on the east of Johannesburg, was a guest in SmartLess podcast with hosts Sean Hayes, Jason Bateman and Will Arnett last week when she said Afrikaans is a “dying language that is not helpful”.
Afrikaans is one of the 11 official languages in South Africa and is spoken by millions of people across the country, but Theron jokingly mentioned in the podcast that only 44 people speak Afrikaans as it is “a dying language”.
Many South Africans are still debating her comments on social media, with many voicing their outrage, including Afrikaans-speaking TV stars.
Suidooster star Dean Smith said: “Afrikaans is more than just a language. It’s history, it’s culture, it’s my origin. As long as I’m alive, Afrikaans can’t possibly be dead. I’m Afrikaans.”
Comedian Shalk Bezuidenhout also took a jab at the Monster actress.
@schalkbezuidenhout People are upset with Charlize Theron…
@shannonvanwyk431 Ek is trots Afrikaans🇿🇦 #charlizetheron #44 #trotsafrikaans #Afrikaans #afrikaanstiktoks #afrikaansisgroot #suidafrika #southafrica #fyp
@smithtalks Mrs J is Kwaad🤣🤣🤣 #smithtalks #oomnol
@juan_christo Praat jy afrikaans? #charlizetheron #afrikaans
@doccie_shields Welgedaan Charlize #charlizetheron #afrikaans #afrikaanstiktoks #afrikaanscomedy #tiktok #tiktoksouthafrica
But the US-based actress has the support of the EFF. The organisation’s member of parliament, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, tweeted a picture with a caption: “Charlize Theron. That’s the tweet.”
Charlize Theron… that’s the tweet pic.twitter.com/rgESfwRBB9
— Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (@MbuyiseniNdlozi) November 17, 2022
However, the chairperson of Freedom Front Plus, advocate Anton Alberts, shared that “she is not up to date with what is going on in her country of birth”.
The Pan South African Language Board said in a statement on Friday: “According to Stats SA’s Community Survey of 2018, Afrikaans is the third-largest most spoken language in the country, making up 12.2% of the population.
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