Why is everything in South Africa in English, while that isn't the main language?

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Accepted answer

While English isn't the most common mother's tongue language in South Africa, it is the most understood language.

This is actually the case in most African countries. While many people speak the languages of their ethnic group in private, a European language became the main language for public communication. So many people are bilingual.

Before the age of colonialism, the different ethnicities in Africa mainly kept to themselves.

When the Europeans came and divided Africa into multi-ethnic countries under foreign rule, they brought their languages with them. Africans who wanted to prosper under this system had to learn the foreign language in addition to their own. After decolonisation, the African countries gained independence, but kept the colonial borders. In order to keep these new multi-ethnic countries together, they kept using the languages of the colonial powers. Having a common language used for public business helps to bridge the cultural barriers which internally divide most African countries. Keeping the ethnic languages alive for private affairs helps to maintain all the unique cultures of Africa.

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