MK party member Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla. [Picture: Michel Bega]
Members of Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) learnt that his daughter, Duduzile Zuma, cannot speak isiZulu. She blames apartheid for her inability to speak her mother tongue.
In a video that has gone viral on social media, the 42-year-old, Mozambican-born Zuma told members she was a “victim of apartheid”. She claimed South African children were deprived of learning their mother tongue.
“I can’t speak this in isiZulu. I’m sorry, I’m a victim of apartheid so this is one of the things that happen. We don’t get to grow up in South Africa and learn our mother tongue, but I’m trying and I’m learning, give me a few years,” she told the cheering crowd.
However, netizens were not convinced. Many pointed out the resilience of local languages during the periods of colonisation and apartheid. Others also referred to Chris Pappas, the White mayor of uMngeni who is fluent in isiZulu.
One X user, @Makarbatsi, wrote: “I’m sure if Duduzile made an effort,she would have been fluent in speaking Zulu by now, she can’t speak it due to lack of interest to learn it ,for example even some Somalians who are hardly staying 5 years in South Africa are already fluent in speaking a South African language”.
The MKP, launched just months before the 2024 general elections, swept the floor in KwaZulu-Natal and dislodged the EFF from third position. Its campaign vowed to defeat “neo-apartheid” by, among others, placing African cultures at the centre.
“I am sorry, I can’t speak isiZulu I am a victim of Apartheid so this is one of the things that happens we don’t get to grow up in South Africa and learn our Mother tongue but I’m trying I’m learning” Duduzile Zuma Sambudla-Zuma
— News Live SA (@newslivesa) October 6, 2024
“The MK Party is a growing party I’m sure you can… pic.twitter.com/ZJFCtlxAm1