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Social conversations: Decolonising the South African passport
Guest on the line: Koffi M Kouakou, Africa Analyst and Senior Research Fellow at The Centre of Africa China, University of Johannesburg.
What’s the point of having French written on the South African passport today? What does it mean, stand for and how helpful is it? Even more important, why aren’t any South African languages written on the passport?
One could ask the same question about the British passport. On the front cover of the British passport, on the Royal Coat of Arms, are the mottoes of the monarch of the UK in French that say “Dieu et mon Droit” and “Honi soit qui mal y pense”, respectively translated as “God is my right” and “Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it” or “Evil be to him who evil thinks”.
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By SAfmGuest on the line: Koffi M Kouakou, Africa Analyst and Senior Research Fellow at The Centre of Africa China, University of Johannesburg.
What’s the point of having French written on the South African passport today? What does it mean, stand for and how helpful is it? Even more important, why aren’t any South African languages written on the passport?
One could ask the same question about the British passport. On the front cover of the British passport, on the Royal Coat of Arms, are the mottoes of the monarch of the UK in French that say “Dieu et mon Droit” and “Honi soit qui mal y pense”, respectively translated as “God is my right” and “Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it” or “Evil be to him who evil thinks”.