“English is Not Everything.” MacDonald Ndou Tells African Parents

Muvhango actor Macdonald Ndou has expressed concern over African parents move towards dumping their languages and culture in favour of Western languages.

Macdonald, himself a proud Venda man, is passionate about teaching people the beauty of his language and culture. He is however worried that young peopole in particular do not understand the importance and the relevance of TV shows like Muvhango.

“Muvhango may be underrated for people who do not realise what the drama has done in terms of teaching people the language and the cultures of the Venda people. Because of the drama, people went from always trying to ridicule Tshivenda to actually wanting to know more about it.

“Now I see people everywhere I go genuinely interested in not letting their mother tongue die, and that’s how it should be,” the actor told TshisaLive.

“It is our responsibility to create a culture in society of prioritising our own languages. Particularly for our children, we need to start them young. What I realised is that the younger generation don’t know our language, and that’s a tragedy. They should, from a young age know, thanks to us and their parents, that speaking English isn’t everything. They must teach their children their home languages.”

He applauded creatives in the industry keeping different cultures and languages alive, singling out SABC 2 drama Giyani: Land of Blood.

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