Nelson Mandela is often quoted as saying that “if you speak to a person [in a language] they understand it will go to their head, but if you talk to them in their own language it will go straight to their heart”. Under the apartheid administration, Sepulana, isiHlubi, isiBhaca, Northern Ndebele and many other African languages spoken by millions of people were classified as mere dialects of other languages. Mpumalanga language activist Gakwi Mashego is on a mission to ensure that Sepulana, a language spoken by more than a million people in SA, is recognised as one of the country’s official languages.