SOUTH AFRICA, March 23, 2007 — South Africa’s largest language group, the Zulu, can now listen to the dramatised New Testament in their own language. And the Bible Society of South Africa, in partnership with Hosanna, has ambitious plans to provide the same service in the other official languages over the next few years.
Several hundred Zulu-speaking Christians gathered at the Anglican church in Esikhawini, on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal, on March 1 for the launch of the dramatised audio version of the New Testament in their language. This event, at which Ina Cronjé, the provincial Education Minister, was the guest speaker, also marked the launch of the Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH) program in South Africa as a whole.
Photo: United Bible Societies/
Francois Sieberhagen
The Rev Josiah Mazibuku, national coordinator for the Faith Comes By Hearing program (left), and the Rev Gerrit Kritzinger, CEO of the Bible Society of South Africa, with the Zulu audio New Testament packaged in the Proclaimer. The Zulu audio New Testament was launched in KwaZulu-Natal on March 1, 2007.
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Up to 20 million South Africans are functionally non-literate, according to research from the University of Pretoria, so there is an urgent need to supply God’s Word in an accessible format, explained Bible Society CEO the Rev Gerrit Kritzinger. FCBH is also of great value to people who, although able to read, prefer a non-print format.
“Many people experience difficulties reading a book like the Bible,” he said. “The FCBH program is not only for them, however. It is also for those who are too busy to read or do not want to read any more. These recordings are for everyone who wants to listen to the New Testament, whether in a group or alone, in the church, the car, or wherever.”
The Zulu audio New Testament will be available in CD and MP3 format and on a microchip contained within the Proclaimer, a device powered by solar energy, batteries or electricity. This device will be used by facilitators trained by Willie Alamu, the FCBH Regional Field Coordinator for Nigeria and Southern Africa, as they lead groups which will meet each week to listen to the New Testament for half an hour and then discuss what they have heard. After around seven months, the group will have listened to the whole of the New Testament and will then be allowed to keep the Proclaimer. It is hoped that there will be a ‘ripple effect’, with one member of the group in turn forming a new group.
It will not be long before speakers of Tswana and Xhosa, too, are able to listen to the audio New Testament in their own language, as recordings have already been made in these languages. The Bible Society is now turning its attention to the recording of the New Testament in Afrikaans, as well as offering recordings in two cross-border languages which are already available in Mozambique and Swaziland.
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