By Staff Reporter
PRETORIA-The Pan South African Language Board (PANSALB) has resolved that the Xitsonga Spelling on the new R100 bank note is correct.
The new R100 banknote that was launched by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) in May caused a stir amongst Xitsonga-speaking communities who noticed spelling error in the Xitsonga translation of ‘Reserve bank’.
The old banknotes denoted the Xitsonga spelling of Reserve Bank as ‘Bangi-Nkulu’. However, on the new R100 note, the Xitsonga translation of the Reserve Bank was changed, with the second ‘N’ in Bangi-Nkulu dropped. The word now reads as Bangi
However, the Pan South African Language Board, responsible for the translation, says the extra ‘N’ was incorrect on the old notes – explaining that the ‘N’ is only used when referring to a person and not an institution.
There is a Xitsonga dialect spoken in the Malamulele area in the Limpopo province which doesn’t use the ‘N’ – even when it is supposed to be used – but other Xitsonga-speaking communities disagree with the change.
Other Xitsonga speaking communities said that this explanation for the change is wrong, and removing the ‘N’ changes the whole meaning of the word – blaming the lack of consultation with language experts as the real cause of the misspelling.
PANSALB has concluded its consultation with the Xitsonga-speaking community in Malamulele and Giyani communities in Limpopo.
Apart from the spelling error, the new banknotes also came with enhanced security features and new designs celebrating the country’s heritage.
The biggest changes to the notes are that the individual Big Five are now represented by their families.
The note colouring is also slightly deeper – particularly the R50 notes, which lean more towards purple than the pink colouration before.
The new coin designs and specifications have been known since they were gazetted at the start of the year.
