| 3.1 | Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 |
The relevant sections provide as follows:
| 3.1 1 | Section 6(1) to (4): |
| "(1) | The official languages of the Republic are Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, Siswati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu. |
| (2) | Recognising the historically diminished use and status of the indigenous languages of our people, the state must take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and advance the use of these languages. |
| (a) | The national government and provincial governments may use any particular official languages for the purposes of government, taking into account usage, practicality, expense, regional circumstances and the balance of the needs and preferences of the population as a whole or in the province concerned; but the national government and each provincial government must use at least two official languages. |
| (b) | Municipalities must take into account the language usage and preferences of their residents. |
| (4) | The national government and provincial governments, by legislative and other measures, must regulate and monitor their use of official languages. Without detracting from the provisions of subsection (2), all official languages must enjoy parity of esteem and must be treated equitably." |
| 3.1.2 | Section 9(3) to (5): |
| "(3) | The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth. |
| (4) | No person may unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds in terms of subsection (3). National legislation must be enacted to prevent or prohibit unfair discrimination. |
| (5) | Discrimination on one or more of the grounds listed in subsection (3) is unfair unless it is established that the discrimination is fair." |
| 3.1.3 | Section 10: "Everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected." |
| 3.1.4 | Section 30: "Everyone has the right to use the language and to participate in the cultural life of their choice, but no one exercising these rights may do so in a manner inconsistent with any provision of the Bill of Rights." |
| 3.1.5 | Section 31(1) to (2): |
| "(1) | Persons belonging to a cultural, religious or linguistic community may not be denied the right, with other members of that community— |
| (a) | to enjoy their culture, practise their religion and use their language; and |
| (b) | to form, join and maintain cultural, religious and linguistic associations and other organs of civil society. |
| (2) | The rights in subsection (1) may not be exercised in a manner inconsistent with any provision of the Bill of Rights." |
| 3.2 | Use of Official Languages Act, 2012 (Act No. 12 of 2012) |
The relevant sections provide as follows:
| 3.2.1 | Section 4(1) to (4): |
| "(1) | Every national department, national public entity and national public enterprise must adopt a language policy regarding its use of official languages for government purposes within 18 months of the commencement of this Act or such further period as the Minister may prescribe, provided that such prescribed period may not exceed six months. |
| (2) | A language policy adopted in terms of subsection (1) must— |
| (a) | comply with the provisions of section 6(3)(a) of the Constitution; |
| (b) | identify at least three official languages that the national department, national public entity or national public enterprise will use for government purposes; |
| (c) | stipulate how official languages will be used, amongst other things, in effectively communicating with the public, official notices, government publications and interand intra-government communications; |
| (d) | describe how the national department, national public entity or national public enterprise will effectively communicate with members of the public whose language of choice is— |
| (i) | not an official language contemplated in paragraph (b); or |
| (ii) | South African Sign Language. |
| (e) | describe how members of the public can access the language policy; |
| (f) | provide a complaints mechanism to enable members of the public to lodge complaints regarding the use of official languages by a national department, national public entity or national public enterprise; |
| (g) | provide for any other matter that the Minister may prescribe; and |
| (h) | be published in the Gazette as soon as reasonably practicable, but within 90 days of its adoption. |
| (3) | In identifying at least three official languages as contemplated in subsection (2)(b), every national department, national public entity and national public enterprise must take into account its obligation to take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and advance the use of indigenous languages of historically diminished use and status in accordance with section 6(2) of the Constitution. |
| (4) | Every national department, national public entity and national public enterprise must— |
| (a) | ensure that a copy of its language policy is available on request to members of the public at all its offices; and |
| (b) | display at all its offices a summary of its language policy in such manner and place that it can be read by the public." |
| 3.2.2 | Section 7: "Every national department, national public entity and national public enterprise must— |
| (a) | establish a language unit; and |
| (b) | ensure that the language unit is provided with human resources, administrative resources and other resources necessary for its effective functioning." |
| 3.3 | Use of Official Languages Regulations, 2013 (in terms of section 13 of the Use of Official Languages Act, 2012) |
| 3.4 | Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (Act No. 2 of 2000) The relevant section provides as follows: |
"A requester whose request for access to a record of a public body has been granted must, if the record—
| (a) | exists in the language that the requester prefers, be given access in that language; or |
| (b) | does not exist in the language so preferred or the requester has no preference or has not indicated a preference, be given access in any language the record exists in." |
