DRAFT OLD MUTUAL FINANCE LANGUAGE POLICY
2012
1.
Introduction
This is the draft Old Mutual Finance Language policy revised as at 16 March
2012.
2.
The Constitution
Section 6 of the Constitution provides as follows:
6
Languages
(1) The official languages of the Republic are Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda,
Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu.
(2) Recognising the historically diminished use and status of the indigenous languages of
our people, the state must take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and
advance the use of these languages.
(3) (a) The national government and provincial governments may use any particular
official languages for the purposes of government, taking into account usage, practicality,
expense, regional circumstances and the balance of the needs and preferences of the population
as a whole or in the province concerned; but the national government and each provincial
government must use at least two official languages.
(b) Municipalities must take into account the language usage and preferences of their
residents.
(4) The national government and provincial governments, by legislative and other
measures, must regulate and monitor their use of official languages. Without detracting from the
provisions of subsection (2), all official languages must enjoy parity of esteem and must be
treated equitably.
(5) A Pan South African Language Board established by national legislation must(a)
promote, and create conditions for, the development and use of-
(b)
(i)
all official languages;
(ii)
the Khoi, Nama and San languages; and
(iii)
sign language; and
promote and ensure respect for(i)
all languages commonly used by communities in South Africa,
including German, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Portuguese, Tamil, Telegu and Urdu; and
(ii)
Arabic, Hebrew, Sanskrit and other languages used for religious
purposes in South Africa.
3.
The applicable provisions of the National Credit Act, 2005
The National Credit Act, 2005 provides as follows:
63
Right to information in official language
(1) A consumer has a right to receive any document that is required in terms of this Act in
an official language that the consumer reads or understands, to the extent that is reasonable
having regard to usage, practicality, expense, regional circumstances and the balance of the
needs and preferences of the population ordinarily served by the person required to deliver that
document.
(2) If the producer of a document that is required to be delivered to a consumer in terms
of this Act is, or is required to be, a registrant, that person must(a)
make a submission to the National Credit Regulator proposing to make
such documents available in at least two official languages; and
(b)
offer each consumer an opportunity to choose an official language in
which to receive any document, from among at least two official languages as determined in
accordance with a proposal that has been approved by the National Credit Regulator.
(3) A proposal in terms of subsection (2) may propose(a)
the same official languages for use throughout the Republic; or
(b)
different official languages for use in different parts of the Republic.
(4) The National Credit Regulator must-
(a)
consider each proposal in terms of subsection (2) having regard to
usage, practicality, expense, regional circumstances and the balance of the needs and
preferences of the population ordinarily served by the person making the proposal; and
(b)
either(i)
approve the proposal; or
(ii)
require the person making the proposal to submit a fresh
proposal, if the National Credit Regulator concludes that the proposal does not adequately
provide for the maximum practicable enjoyment of the right set out in subsection (1).
(5) The person who made a proposal that is the subject of a decision of the National
Credit Regulator in terms of subsection (4) (b) (ii) may apply to the Tribunal to review that
decision, and the Tribunal may make an order confirming or setting aside the decision.
(6) If the producer of a document that is required to be delivered to a consumer in terms
of this Act is not a registrant, and not required to register, that person must offer the consumer an
opportunity to choose an official language in which to receive that document from among at least
two official languages selected by the producer of the document, having regard to usage,
practicality, expense, regional circumstances and the balance of the needs and preferences of
the population ordinarily served by that person.
(7) The producer of a document that is required to be delivered to a consumer in terms of
this Act must provide each such document to the consumer in the official language chosen by the
consumer in terms of this section.
(8) The Minister may prescribe at least two official languages to be used by the National
Credit Regulator in any documents it is required to deliver in terms of this Act, for all or particular
parts of the Republic, so as to give maximum effect to the right set out in subsection (1).
64
Right to information in plain and understandable language
(1) The producer of a document that is required to be delivered to a consumer in terms of
this Act must provide that document(a)
in the prescribed form, if any, for that document; or
(b)
in plain language, if no form has been prescribed for that document.
(2) For the purposes of this Act, a document is in plain language if it is reasonable to
conclude that an ordinary consumer of the class of persons for whom the document is intended,
with average literacy skills and minimal credit experience, could be expected to understand the
content, significance, and import of the document without undue effort, having regard to(a)
the context, comprehensiveness and consistency of the document;
(b)
the organisation, form and style of the document;
(c)
the vocabulary, usage and sentence structure of the text; and
(d)
the use of any illustrations, examples, headings, or other aids to reading
and understanding.
(3) The National Credit Regulator may publish guidelines for methods of assessing
whether a document satisfies the requirements of subsection (1) (b).
(4) This section does not apply to a developmental credit agreement if(a)
the National Credit Regulator has pre-approved the form of all
documents to be used by the credit provider for such credit agreements in terms of this Act; and
(b)
the credit provider has used only those pre-approved forms in dealing
with the particular consumer.
(5) When pre-approving any form of documents as contemplated in subsection (4), the
National Credit Regulator must balance the need for efficiency of the credit provider with the
principles of subsection (1) (b).
4.
The languages of South Africa
The national perspective
South Africa's Constitution guarantees equal status to 11 official languages to
cater for the country's diverse peoples and their cultures. These are:
•
Afrikaans
•
English
•
isiNdebele
•
isiXhosa
•
isiZulu
•
Sepedi
•
Sesotho
•
Setswana
•
siSwati
•
Tshivenda
•
Xitsonga
The distribution of the population by language spoken most often at home is set
out in the table below.1
Percentage of speakers per language in South Africa (1996 and 2001)
2
English is generally understood across the country, being the most commonly
used language in official and commercial public life, but it only ranks joint fifth out
of 11 as a home language – spoken by only 8.2% of South Africans at home in
2001. IsiZulu is the mother tongue of 23.8% of South Africa's population, followed
by isiXhosa at 17.6%, Afrikaans at 13.3%, Sepedi at 9.4%, and English and
Setswana each at 8.2%. Sesotho is the mother tongue of 7.9% of South Africans,
while the remaining four official languages are spoken at home by less than 5%
of the population each.
The provincial perspective
1
2
Information as per the 2012 sensus will be accommodated when available
Salanguages.com
IsiXhosa is spoken by more than 80% of South Africans in the Eastern Cape,
while almost 80% of people in KwaZulu-Natal speak isiZulu. IsiZulu is also the
most frequently spoken home language in Gauteng.. In Cape Town and its
surrounds, Afrikaans is dominant
Predominant languages by province according to census 2001 figures are:
3
•
Eastern Cape - isiXhosa (83%), Afrikaans (9%)
•
Free State - Sesotho (64%), Afrikaans (12%)
•
Gauteng - isiZulu (21%), Afrikaans (14%), Sesotho (13%), English (12%)
•
KwaZulu-Natal - isiZulu (81%), English (13%)
•
Limpopo - Sepedi (52%), Xitsonga (22%), Tshivenda (16%)
•
Mpumalanga - siSwati (31%), isiZulu (26%), isiNdebele (12%)
•
Northern Cape - Afrikaans (68%), Setswana (21%)
•
North West - Setswana (65%), Afrikaans (7%)
•
Western Cape - Afrikaans (55%), English (19%), isiXhosa (23%)3
http://www.southafrica.info/ess_info/sa_glance/demographics/language.htm
The language distribution throughout the South Africa can be seen on the
following language map.4
5.
Criteria
The National Credit Act is specific on the criteria to be applied in assessing a
proposal from a credit provider in terms of section 63(4) which provides that the
National Credit Regulator must(a)
consider each proposal in terms of subsection (2) having
regard to usage, practicality, expense, regional circumstances and the balance of
the needs and preferences of the population ordinarily served by the person
making the proposal….;.
4
http://www.statssa.gov.za/census2001/digiAtlas/index.html;
http://www.cyberserv.co.za/users/%7Ejako/lang/languagemaps/index.htm
6.
Old Mutual Finance’s Approach
Old Mutual Finance is of the view that the ability to serve a client in its own
language will be a competitive issue amongst credit providers in the near future.
That being the case our approach must be driven by the preferred language
choice of our clients. While Old Mutual Finance would like to serve all its clients
in their preferred languages, this must be balanced with its capacity to meet its
business objectives.
7.
Old Mutual Finance’s Policy Implementation
Old Mutual Finance’s language policy dated 26 June 2009 proposed:
•
Old Mutual Finance will ensure that in all its branches the capacity will
exist to assist its clients in all official languages most prevalent in the
province and ultimately in all 11 languages.
•
Old Mutual Finance will ensure that there will at all times be the capacity
to assist clients in their home languages through the Old Mutual Finance
call centre.
•
It is proposed that, in respect of Old Mutual Finance’s core products in the
low
and
medium
income
segments,
agreements,
pre-agreement
statements and quotations, section 129 letters, statements, settlement
letters and advertising material be produced in the following languages:
English, IsiZulu, IsiXhosa and Afrikaans and at least one of Sepedi,
Sesotho or Setswana. The final decision in respect of the latter will be
informed by further research conducted into the home languages of
clients of Old Mutual Finance in the low and medium income segments.
•
Old Mutual Finance will capture home language and preferred language
going forward and will review this policy every two years to determine
trends. Once Old Mutual Finance has successfully integrated the first five
languages in its operations, it will add additional languages based on its
capacity to do so and client preference.
•
Old Mutual Finance proposed to introduce the translations of its products
as set out above in Zulu within 18 months of the date of approval of this
policy, Xhosa within a further 12 months and the third language for the
Sotho group client base in a further 12 months.
7.
Old Mutual Finance’s Language Policy Implementation
As at 16 March 2012, Old Mutual Finance can confirm that it has implemented:
7.1
the ability to track home language, the results of which is set out below:
Home Lanuage
Percentage of
Total
Xhosa
English
Zulu
Tswana
Afrikaans
Sotho
Sepedi
Sesotho
Tsongo
Venda
Swati
Ndebele
19.4%
19.1%
17.3%
9.9%
9.3%
5.4%
5.3%
4.7%
3.6%
2.9%
2.0%
0.9%
Shona
Total
0.1%
100.0%
7.2
the ability to deal with clients in their language of choice in its call centre;
7.3
the capacity in each branch to speak to clients in the languages spoken in
the area where it is situated;
7.4
translations of its pre-agreement statements, quotations and contract in
•
isiXhosa
•
isiZulu
•
Sesotho
7.5
translations of the section 129 message on its standard section 129 letter
in
•
isiXhosa
•
isiZulu
•
Sesotho
8.
Old Mutual Finance’s Language Policy Implementation Plan
It is proposed that Old Mutual Finance will by no later than December 2013:
8.1
have translations of its pre-agreement statements, quotations and
contract implemented in •
Afrikaans
•
isiNdebele
•
Sepedi
•
Setswana
•
siSwati
•
Tshivenda
•
Xitsonga
8.2
have translations of the section 129 message on its standard section 129
letter in •
Afrikaans
•
isiNdebele
•
Sepedi
•
Setswana
•
siSwati
•
Tshivenda
•
Xitsonga
alternatively send same in the language of choice elected by the consumer;
8.3
provide statements to clients in the language of choice elected by the
consumer.