E-mail address: praesa@education uct.ac.za (P. Pluddemann) International Journal of Educational Research 31 (1999) 327}340 Chapter 7 Multilingualism and education in South Africa: one year on Peter Pluddemann Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa, University of Cape Town, Education Building Room 6-01, Middle Campus, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa Abstract After a short presentation of the relative status of the di!erent languages (and dialects) in the greater Cape Town area, an overview is given of recent debates and developments in the language policy in education in South Africa. The aim is promoting multilingualism. Current language and literary initiatives in primary schools and in teacher education are described brie#y. Proposals for translating policy in practice are reviewed.  1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. On July 14, 1997, after a two-year drafting and consultation process, the Minister of Education announced a new language-in-education policy for public schools in South Africa. Central to the new policy is its commitment to promoting multilingualism as a valuable national asset and in the interests of building a non-racial nation (Depart- ment of Education, 1997a, p.2). The signi"cance of this move lies in the elevation in status of the previously marginalized African languages to a position of full equality with Afrikaans and English, formerly the country's only two o$cial languages. This move is in line with the adoption of 11 o$cial languages in the Constitution (1996). The new language policy for schools is the culmination of a decades-long struggle around the issue of medium of instruction, particularly in education for Africans. Through the Bantu Education Act of 1953, the apartheid state formalized its control over education for Africans. A key feature of the Act was the principle of mother- tongue education (MTE), which was designed to contribute to the social engineering of separating black people into bantustans and the ethnic grouping of African people in townships (Alexander, 1989). The Act provided for an initial period of four years of MTE, after which instruction across the curriculum was to be in English and 0883-0355/99/$ - see front matter  1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 8 8 3 - 0 3 5 5 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 1 0 - 5