President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to open the Sandile Present Community Library on Tuesday morning in Upington.

 

This as the country celebrates Heritage Day under the theme “Celebrating South Africa’s literacy classics in the year of indigenous languages”.

 

However, leaders in the Khoi and San communities where the celebrations for the day are being held say it is time for their languages like Nama and Khoi to be declared official languages.

 

Khoi leader Stanley Peterson says, “He [President Ramaphosa] must now speed up this thing of at least putting one of our languages as one of the official languages. Because for as long as we are outside and not part of the language structures; we cannot celebrate any of the indigenous languages. You know this year marks World Indigenous Languages but where are the first indigenous people of this country? So how can we be proudly South African if we are not part of South Africa.”