Languages & Reading
Summary of Afrikaans and English spoken as first language in South African provinces
|
Afrikaans |
English |
|
Spoken as 1st language in 2 provinces of South Africa and also spoken in 5 other provinces. |
Spoken in 4 provinces of South Africa as 2nd or 3rd language. |
|
Conclusion: Afrikaans is spoken in 7 provinces in South Africa. |
Conclusion: English is spoken in 4 provinces in South Africa. |
Source StatsSA 2017, 2019
Two provinces in South Africa with poorest reading results
|
Province |
Can read |
Cannot Read |
Struggles to read |
|
North West Province |
48% |
38% |
14% |
|
Northern Cape Province |
48% |
34% |
18% |
Source StatsSA 2017, 2019
Percentage of population aged 15 years and older with a level of education lower than Grade 7, by reading skills and provinces, 2017. Languages spoken in South African provinces, 2019
|
Languages |
Population |
Area km² |
Can read |
Cannot read |
Struggles to read |
|
|
Northern Cape
|
Afrikaans 56,8% Setswana 33,4% |
1,225,600
Share SA 2,1% |
372 889 |
48% |
34% |
18% |
|
North West
|
Setswana 71,5% Afrikaans 8,96% |
3,979,000
Share SA 6,9% |
104 882 |
48% |
38% |
14% |
|
Western Cape
|
Afrikaans 46,6% isiXhosa 31,1% English 19,6% |
6,621,000
Share SA 11,5% |
129 462 |
78%
|
12% |
10% |
|
Eastern Cape
|
isiXhosa 82,7% Afrikaans 10,3% English 3,9% |
6,522,700
Share SA 11,3% |
168 966 |
58% |
29% |
13% |
|
Free State
|
Sesotho 71,9% Afrikaans 10% isiXhosa 5,7% |
2,954,300
Share SA 5,1% |
129 825 |
61% |
22% |
17% |
|
Gauteng
|
isiZulu 23% English 11,3% Afrikaans 10,3% Sesotho 12,7% |
14,717,000
Share SA 25,5% |
18 178 |
69% |
13% |
18% |
|
Kwa-Zulu Natal
|
isiZulu 82,5% English 12,5% Afrikaans 1,0% |
11,384,700
Share SA 19,7% |
94 361 |
61% |
20% |
19% |
|
Limpopo
|
Sepedi 56,0% Xitsonga 16,6% Tshivenda 17,1% |
5,797,300
Share SA 10% |
125 755 |
45% |
27% |
28% |
|
Mpumalanga
|
isiSwati 29,1% isiZulu 28,8% Xitsonga 9,6% isiNdebele 10,1% |
4,523,900
Share SA 7,8% |
76 495 |
48% |
26% |
26% |
Source StatsSA 2017, 2019
