South Africa’s languages

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There are 11 official languages spoken in South Africa and many unofficial ones.
English is the official language of business, politics and media but on South Africa's streets you'll find a heady mix of languages spoken from all over the world, most notably Africa, Euroep and Asia.

Most South Africans are multilingual and often mix languages together so you'll hear IsiZulu, for example, peppered with English or Afrikaans phrases.

According to South Africa's 2001 census, 23,8% of the population speaks IsiZulu, followed by the 17,6% who are Xhosa speakers. Only 8% of the population's mother tongue is English. With South Africa's population having increased to just under 50 million in 2010, these figures are somewhat outdated, but do one an indication.

A list of the 11 official languages spoken in South Africa: 

Afrikaans
English
IsiNdebele
IsiXhosa
IsiZulu
Sesotho sa Leboa
Sesotho
Setswana
siSwati
Tshivenda
Xitsonga

The languages you will hear most frequently depends on where you are in the country. For example, in the Eastern Cape, more than 80% fo the population speaks IsiXhosa, while in KwaZulu Natal, isiZulu is most widely spoken.

But tourists need not be concerned. English is widely spoken throughout most of South Africa save for some very rural areas.  

The languages of South Africa fall into two main language families, Nguni and Sotho.  The Nguni languages include isiZulu, isiXhosa, siSwati and isiNdebele, while the Sotho languages encompass Setswana, Sepedi and Sesotho.

Here is a brief South African language guide to some common phrases: 

	isiXhosa	isiZulu	isiNdebele	Sesotho
Hello	Bhota	Sawubona	Lotjhani	Dumela
How are you?	Unjani?	Unjani?	Unjani?	O kae?
I am fine, thank you	Ndiyaphile, enkosi	Ngisaphila, ngiyabonga	Ngikhona ngiyathokoza	Ke teng
Yes	Ewe	Yebo	Lye	Ee
No	Hayi	Cha	Awa	Tjhee
Please	Nceda	Ngiyakucela	Ngiyabawa	Hle
Thank You	Ndiyabulela	Ngiyabonga	Ngiyathokoza	Ke a leboha

 

Setstwana	Tshivenda	xiTsonga	Siswati	Afrikaans
Dumela	Ndaa/Aa	Avuxeni	Sawubona	Hallo
O kae?	Vho vuwa hani?	Ku njhani?	Unjani?	Hoe gaan dit met jou?
Ke teng	Nne ndo takala vhukuma	Ndzi kona ndza nkhensa	Ngikona ngiyabonga	Goed dankie
Ee	Ee	Ina	Yebo	Ja
Nnyaa	Hai	E-e	Cha	Nee
Tsweetswee	Ndi khou tou humbela	Ndza kombela	Ngiyacela	Asseblief
Ke a leboga	Ndi a livhuwa	Ndzi khense ngopfu	Ngiyabonga	Dankie