South African-born actor Charlize Theron has come under fire after saying that Afrikaans — a language spoken by Dutch colonial settlers — was heading for oblivion despite being South Africa's third most spoken language.
The Oscar-winner made the comments during an appearance on the podcast "Smartless."
"There's about 44 people still speaking it," she told hosts Sean Hayes, Jason Bateman and Will Arnett, according to local media outlet News24. "It's definitely a dying language; it's not a very helpful language."
There is controversy surrounding the Afrikaans language, which played a role in the oppression of Black citizens during the apartheid era. Despite this, it remains one of the 11 official languages in South Africa and is widely spoken by millions of people.
In a statement, the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) pointed out on Friday that Afrikaans "is the 3rd most spoken language in the country, making up 12.2% of the population."
The board said it noted Theron's "disparaging comments with concern," adding "the comments are not only disheartening but are disturbing as they are inaccurate and misleading."
Theron's comments also drew ire from local celebrities including Jawaahier Petersen, an actor in a long-running Afrikaans-language soap opera in South Africa.
"I wouldn't say that the language is dying," he told News24. "I think we are in a beautiful place in our country now where there is so much inclusivity for the diversity of Afrikaans and the roots of Afrikaans. Varied roots of Afrikaans. It's almost like we have rebirth of Afrikaans."
Afrikaans star Lea Vivier meanwhile blasted Theron for being "uninformed."
"I always find it upsetting when an individual in the public eye makes an uninformed blanket statement," she said. "Not only does it underestimate a very diverse cultural group and its people, but it also insults the growth and progress that Afrikaans is making. It's a rich and diverse language. I lost a lot of respect for her. No language is ever 'not helpful'."
The local political party Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) also weighed in on the controversy.
"She is not up to date with what is going on in her country of birth," it said.
Theron was born in Benoni, a suburb located roughly 25 miles east of Johannesburg, and moved to the U.S. almost 30 years ago.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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