A South African politician has initiated a new push for Africa to start doing away with foreign languages and develop one of the native modes of communication as the continent's official language.
African National Congress (ANC), Youth Leader Julius Malema said on Wednesday that the use of English and French in Africa is a continuation of colonialism which he said must be stopped.
He said time has come for Africa to think on its own and do away with Western cultures.
Malema said one of the ways the continent can develop is by initiating a common language to be used in over 50 countries in the mostly black continent.
"Even if it is not our generation, we must have a language that unites Africans, like Swahili. If Swahili can be developed, it can become a continental language and then we do away with speaking to each other in English because that is what colonisers did," he said while speaking in Johannesburg.
"They (colonisers) divided us and made sure we do not have a common language so that we do not communicate among ourselves. They made sure we use their language to communicate so that they can hear everything we say."
Swahili is increasingly becoming a common language in Africa as it's presently being spoken in East and Central Africa.
Some natives of Southern African countries including Zimbabwe have also begun adopting it.