Malelane — Mpumalanga will establish a provincial language committee on Sunday, ahead of International Mother Language Day celebrations on Monday.

The celebration will take place at the Schoemansdal Community Hall in Nkomazi, south of Malelane.

"It will include a literature exhibition," said spokesperson for the provincial department of culture, sport and recreation, Gertrude Nkosi.

Mpumalanga's education department is on a drive to encourage local writers to write in their mother tongues.

Education MEC Siphosezwe Masango met with the Mpumalanga Writers Association last month to encourage mother tongue writing, and also literature relevant to the country's political and social transformation.

Writers expressed concern at the difficulty of publishing books in their mother tongue and the poor market for mother-tongue books.

They asked the department for support by including their books in the school curriculum.

"We've undertaken to consider implementing a policy that sets a time-limit for books in the curriculum, so that new books can be introduced on a more regular basis," said department spokesperson Thomas Msiza.

The predominant languages in Mpumalanga are siSwati, isiNdebele, isiZulu, Afrikaans and English.

International Mother Language Day is held globally each year to promote the recognition and practise of mother tongues, particularly the minority languages.

"Everybody is encouraged, mobilised, energised and inspired to own and be proud of their different mother tongues," Nkosi said.

The language committee will be launched on Sunday night at the Matsamo cultural village at the Jeppes Reef border post with Swaziland.

MEC Nomsa Mtsweni will be the keynote speaker at the celebrations on Monday.