Assessing the Use of IsiZulu in Banking Services in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal Province

After 1994, in South Africa many people saw the declaration of the previously side-lined indigenous languages as official languages as a move towards respecting and promoting indigenous languages. The main objective of this study is to assess the use of isiZulu in banking services in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. The focus was on whether isiZulu is used as a language of communication in the banking service and to check whether consumers receive documents in the language they prefer, particularly in isiZulu. The qualitative research approach was used, and the study followed a case study design. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data, and a wealth of data was generated by thick descriptions of participant responses. The data from semi-structured interviews were recorded and decoded into categories, and the categories were reduced to thematic constructs. Twelve purposively selected participants were involved in the study. The findings revealed that even though isiZulu was incorporated into the banks’ policies as a language that which was supposed to be used, this was not practiced since English was predominantly used, at the expense of isiZulu. The findings further revealed that English was the only language used even in customer documents such as letters and pamphlets, and isiZulu was used mainly for oral communication. The findings also revealed that there was a lack of terminology in the isiZulu language for certain English words. It was recommended that translators be needed to assist with the communication.