In celebration of 100 years of Afrikaans as an official language in South Africa, the University of the Free State (UFS) hosted the DF Malherbe Memorial Lecture on 15 May 2025. 

This commemorative event featured acclaimed poet and novelist Prof Joan Hambidge as keynote speaker, with Prof Hein Willemse, former Head of the Department of Afrikaans at the University of Pretoria (UP), delivering the rejoinder. Renowned musician Frazer Barry provided musical entertainment, contributing to an evening rich in cultural reflection and artistic expression.

A century of Afrikaans

The evening opened with a theatrical performance of a ghost story by poet and writer CJ Langenhoven, presented by the UFS Department of Drama and Theatre Arts. The performance paid tribute to Langenhoven’s instrumental role in establishing Afrikaans as an official language. 

Delivering the welcoming address, Prof Hester C. Klopper, UFS Vice-Chancellor and Principal, remarked: 

‘’The staging of CJ Langenhoven’s ghost story at the beginning of the programme is very appropriate, because it was Langenhoven who, as a senator in 1925, submitted the bill that led to Afrikaans being recognised as an official language alongside English on 8 May of that year.” 

Prof Klopper further acknowledged the contributions of both Langenhoven and DF Malherbe to the development of the language: 

‘’What Langenhoven achieved by making Afrikaans a reading language was matched in the Free State through what DF Malherbe contributed by making Afrikaans a fully-fledged professional language.” 

A reflective and inclusive perspective 

In her keynote address, Prof Hambidge offered a critical exploration of Afrikaans, tracing its origins beyond its official recognition in 1925. She emphasised its evolution within the contact zones of Dutch settlers, enslaved Asians, Khoi-Khoi communities, and other indigenous peoples. 

She reviewed scholarly debates, such as whether Afrikaans can be considered a semi-creole, and highlighted how generations of writers - from Langenhoven and Marie Linde to 19th-century Cape Muslim authors - have continually redefined its idiom. 

 Prof Hambidge concluded her address with a call to active stewardship of the language: 

“Rather than obsessing over a fixed birthday for the language, its speakers should tend the language daily, embrace its plural identities. and resist fatalistic talk of its demise.”

In response, Prof Willemse offered a compelling rejoinder that spotlighted oral traditions often overlooked in earlier nationalist narratives. He emphasised that Afrikaans literature has long drawn on San, Khoi, and Sotho motifs, yet these contributions have rarely been acknowledged. 

“Recognising these sources - and the social inequalities that once silenced them - is essential to a fuller, decolonised understanding of Afrikaans,” he stated. 

Music as a cultural celebration 

As the evening drew to a close, Frazer Barry captivated the audience with performances of original songs such as Kleinmond and Kind van Afrika, which celebrate community, identity, and the beauty of South Africa’s people and landscapes. His performance was both engaging and interactive, with audience members singing along in a spirit of shared celebration. 

The programme concluded with a performance by the Odeion String Quartet, bringing the evening to a graceful and reflective close.