Prior to 1994, South Africa had only two official languages, English and Afrikaans. Official Languages in South Africa: - The 5 most important facts - There are 11 official languages in South Africa! Most South Africans can speak more than one language. South Africa has eleven official languages.They are Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu.Most South Africans (over 99%) speak one of these languages as a first language. When the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, English was made the official language along with Dutch, which was replaced by Afrikaans in 1925. How many official languages does South Africa have - trivia question /questions answer / answers Its democratic Constitution, which came into effect on 4 February 1997, recognises 11 official languages, to which the state guarantees equal status. South Africa is a multilingual country. One of the perennial issues that arises when discussing South African education is our complex language policy. Much of the country’s media has been tailored to include as many of these languages as possible. Because it is the second language of the vast majority of South Africans, it is also the language most widely understood. These are English (9.6%), Afrikaans (13.5%), Ndebele (2.1%), Sepedi (9.1%), Xhosa (16%), Venda (2.4%), Tswana (8%), Southern Sotho (7.6%), Zulu 22.7%), Swazi or SiSwati (2.5%) and Tsonga (4.5%). What happens in South African schools is that children usually learn… English is the most spoken language in official and commercial public life. It was brought to South Africa by the British who declared it the official language of the Cape Colony in 1822. These are: English, Afrikaans, isiZulu, isiXhosa, isiNdebele, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga; Zulu is the most commonly spoken mother tongue or home language. 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