Pan South African Language Board Interviews: day 3

Meeting report

Interviews of Candidates for the Pan South African Language Board
The following questions were asked to the short-listed candidates:

● Candidates were asked about their backgrounds, focusing on their expertise, skills and their knowledge on issues in South Africa.

● They were asked why they wanted to be members of the PanSALB.

● Candidates were asked to explain their understanding of the current climate of the language situation in South Africa.

● They were asked for their thoughts on the usage of few languages, what were the disadvantages of that, and how they would assist in developing indigenous languages in the country.

● They were asked if there were any other methods that could be used to promote indigenous languages.

● Candidates were asked in terms of their expertise and skills, which strategy could be used to promote indigenous languages at home, work and in the community at large.

● Candidates were asked whether there were any conflicts of interest that could jeopardise their chances of being appointed to the PanSALB.

● Candidates were asked to explain why they thought the last PanSALB failed.

● They were asked what they would do if they discovered that people were employed as financial managers without proper qualifications.

● They were asked if they were able to work with people as team players.

● They were asked if it was possible for parents to accustom their children to indigenous languages at an early stage.

● Candidates were asked whether they would be able to execute the mandate of the PanSALB.

● They were asked how they would manage the process of making language practitioners students to help Government to do more work in terms of indigenous languages.

● Candidates were asked if they were independent enough to challenge the decision of the Board if they thought it was not correct.

● Candidates were asked if they possessed interpersonal management skills to manage conflict between the members of the board.

● They were asked how they would serve the PanSALB if they were sitting in other various boards.

● They were asked what their understanding was of being fit and proper in terms of the Act to serve on the PanSALB.

● They were asked what they would be bringing to the PanSALB.

● They were asked why it would be important for them to argue for multilingualism in South Africa.

● They were asked whether they thought PanSALB would make a difference in South Africa.

● Candidates were asked what the Act really entailed in terms of the mandate of the PanSALB Board.

● Candidates were asked what their expectations were if elected to be Board Members with regard to the functioning of the Board.

● They were asked how would they manage corruption if appointed to the PanSALB.

● They were asked how they would manage unnecessary conflict between PanSALB staff and its Board.

● Candidates were asked how they would implement the provision of section 6(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa which provided that indigenous languages were facing a challenge of diminishing and thus required that the state practice steps and positive measures to elevate their status and advance the use of these languages.

● They were asked to explain the current application of section 6, and whether it treated languages fairly and equally.

● Candidates were asked what their opinion was of section 6(2), and what measures they would put in place to ensure that the state, including provinces and municipalities complied fully with this constitutional requirement.

● Candidates were asked how they were going to promote and interact with universities so as to translate books into indigenous languages.

● They were asked whether PanSALB had contributed to the transformation of languages in South Africa.

The Chairperson thanked all candidates for availing themselves for interviews.

The meeting was adjourned.

Refer to audio recording for responses.