Communication and governance in a linguistically diverse human settlement in South Africa

This journal article explores the devastating impact of apartheid-era policies on South African communities, focusing on how draconian legislation like the Land Act of 1936, the Natives Resettlement Act of 1954, and the Group Areas Act of 1950 enforced racial segregation and destroyed multicultural and multilingual urban spaces. It details how these acts forcibly removed black, Indian, and mixed-race people from prime areas, reallocating these areas to white people and relegating the displaced communities to poorly serviced townships on the urban periphery. The article highlights the loss of cosmopolitanism and linguistic diversity in places like Lady Selborne, District Six, and Sophiatown, where different racial groups had previously coexisted and communicated across language barriers. It also examines the apartheid and colonial governments' policies that promoted Afrikaans and English while marginalising indigenous languages and fostering ethnic divisions, further disenfranchising these communities and depriving them of basic services.

Abstract based directly on original source.