Charlize Theron sparks anger after claiming Afrikaans facing oblivion

Charlize Theron has prompted anger in her native South Africa after suggesting that Afrikaans, a language descended from Dutch colonial settlers, is heading for oblivion.

Her comments prompted some South Africans to speak out in defence of Afrikaans, which is one of 11 official languages in South Africa and is commonly used by around 12% of the population of nearly 60 million.

Laws imposing Afrikaans played a role in the oppression of black citizens during the apartheid era, and the language remains controversial in some sectors of society today.

Theron was born in Benoni, a suburb 40km (25 miles) east of Johannesburg, and moved to the US almost 30 years ago.

Afrikaans, a mixture of old Dutch spoken by settlers who began to arrive in South Africa in the mid-17th century, some French and local languages spoken well before the colonial era.