LIBERATING, RESTORING VANISHING SISWATI

What is a toothpaste in siSwati?
What is a roll-on in siSwati?
Again, what is Facebook in siSwati?

These are not rhetorical questions, can somebody answer me please. In fact, do not answer me because you do not know. In fact is not that you do not know, but there are no siSwati names for these things.  They only have English names or names from the country of origin - manufacture here is the word I was trying to escape. Just yesterday, when I was starting fire in the kitchen, I was really shocked when I turned the matchbox only to be greeted by the inscription ‘made in South Africa’. Does this imply that all the brilliant minds, here in Eswatini, cannot make matches or a matchstick for that matter? Anyway, this is a story for another day.

Here we are today, since the country is not very effective in manufacturing, it imports its products, which is not a problem at all. The problem is; why are the imported products not given siSwati names immediately they land here in Eswatini? This cripples our language, in fact the siSwati language is getting extinct due to this issue. I suggest a drastic programme must be implemented, that will give siSwati names to all new imported products such as; a printer, laptop, hard drive, refrigerator, troll, frontal, make-up, TikTok, Instagram, forklift, adapter, pilot, to name a few.

When our forefathers came across new things such as the cellphone, they named it ‘mahlalekhikhini’. The television was named ‘mabonakudze’, so what are we waiting for? Why are we killing our so beloved, soft and respectful language? Do you know how hard it is nowadays to write a letter or a composition in siSwati? If not, go ask the siSwati teachers, they can attest to this, more especially the exam markers. We cannot fail the pupils because we are the ones who are negligent. Are we really emaSwati or maybe we call this civilisation? If civilisation cost us our language, I really do not want to be civilised.

Can you all ask yourself this question? Since we produce less or none at all and import more and more; if we continue like this, where is the siSwati language going to be in the next decade or so? Will there be any liSwati or siSwati? I do not think so. Believe me when I say the programme to give siSwati names to new products can save our mother tongue. In fact it is the true messiah.

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