The development of Afrikaans can be traced to the arrival of settlers to the Cape. This is, however, not the sole factor that led to the development of Afrikaans, as it was employed by the servants, slaves and indigenous traders to communicate with the Dutch.

This is substantiated by the variety of influences present in Afrikaans. These would include Khoisan, Malaysian, French, Dutch, English and German among others. This does not mean that the language is only limited to these influences, as various dialects are spoken all over South Africa, with the dominant indigenous language of a region influencing the dialect of Afrikaans in that region.

The popularity of Afrikaans and its subsequent endorsement by the Apartheid government, have their roots in the attempted social engineering project by which the Dutch population in South Africa sought to unify members of this group. It aimed to build a South African nationalism that recognised their varied origins, but one that emphasised a unique South African identity.

However, this identity was largely based on race and Afrikaans as a language thus became synonymous with white oppression in South Africa. Despite this attempt at creating a schism with regard to language and race among South Africans, Afrikaans is widely spoken by black people.

Source: sahistory.org.za

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