South Africa 43

Listen to South Africa 43, a 36-year-old man from Mokopane, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 36

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 12/12/1980

PLACE OF BIRTH: Hammanskraal, North West Province (but raised in Mokopane, Limpopo Province)

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Black (Tsonga)

OCCUPATION: security officer

EDUCATION: National Senior Certificate (Matric)

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

Subject has never lived outside South Africa, but he has lived outside the region in which he grew up (Mokopane, Limpopo Province).

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH: N/A

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Nadia Barnard

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 07/12/2017

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

Myself, er, I was born at Hammanskraal, Themba; er, what is the name of the hospital? Um, Jubilee Hospital. And then I grew up in Limpopo Province. Er, at Tshamahansi Village, er, before it was, er, Potgietersrus; but now it’s been known as, er, er, er, Mokopane. So, I moved from there to Gauteng to look for the job, and that’s where I am today.

I, I’ve got, er, two parents, of which they are still alive: my mother and my, my, er, my father. Er, I’m the firstborn child. Er, we are five at home: three boys and, er, two girls. And I’ve — I’ve married; I’ve got a wife, with three children. …

Ja, at first it was difficult because, er, you have to settle; you have to find a place to stay, to rent, a small-piece job, you see? Er, so that you could survive. Ja, it is a dif- very difficult before you will find yourself settling, you have to suffer first. If you don’t have a fam- a family there. But if there’s a family, it’s much better because you can stay with them for so long. Without the family, you’ll have to look at place to stay, and then you’re supposed to pay rent. If not so, er, [subject laughs] you’re supposed to sleep at the bridge until things come ups for you.

Ja, in Gauteng, life is expensive because, er, you pay for everything. Er, you go to the toilet, they need money, [subject laughs]; you go to sleep, they need money. Everything is expensive in — nothing for mahala [South African informal for “free,” from isiXhosa, isiZulu] in Gauteng.

Er, now I live in Hammanskraal, but here, er, I stay, er, Nellmapius, near the — near, er, my work place. I’m paying rent there.

In fact, now I know, er, all languages, all South African languages, except, er, Khoisan. That’s one, the one that’s difficult for me. But all languages, I know them, South African languages: Zulu, Xhosa, Tsonga, Afrikaans, English, all of them. … My language is Xitsonga, er [subject continues to speak in Tsonga]. That means, er, “If you, you do something good, it speaks for itself.” [Subject continues to speak in Tsonga.] So that means, “If you do something, you must take your time, because sometimes if you hurry, then you’ll ended up, er, hurting yourself.”

Er, Khoi- Khoisan is a very dif- I — that language: Oh! I really don’t, er, don’t know that language. The only words that I know with the Khoisan is the one that they use to u- er, politicians; they like that words, er, the most. They say [subject continues to speak Khoisan]. It’s the only words that I know. [subject laughs] That, there are only peoples everywhere, governments, ja.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Nadia Barnard

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 07/12/2017

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY: N/A

COMMENTARY BY: N/A

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

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