South Africa is a multilingual country and Section 6 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act No. 108 of 1996) grants official language status to 12 languages, namely, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu and South African Sign Language.

The Official Languages Act 12 of 2012 (the Act) applies to, among others, all national public entities, including the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA), which is listed as such in Part A of Schedule 3 of the Public Finance Management Act No.1 of 1999. This policy has therefore been developed in compliance with the provisions of the Act. There is an increased need to intensify efforts to develop the previously marginalised indigenous languages and promote multilingualism. As such, the Act places an obligation on the IRBA, as a national public entity, to take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and advance the use of indigenous languages in accordance with Section 6(2) of the Constitution.

South African legislation requires that every national public entity must adopt a language policy regarding the use of official languages for government purposes. The Use of Official Language Act 12 of 2012 (the Act) regulates and monitors the use of official languages by national government for government purposes.

Section 4(2) of the Act provides that a policy adopted must:

i. not an official language contemplated in paragraph (b); or

ii. South African sign language.

Consequently, the purpose of this policy is to outline how the IRBA will comply with the Act through the implementation and use of official languages.