Why English Only?

The second golden rule for using the RealFact website is:

All publicly displayed posts, messages and articles must be in the English language. User content contributions that are not in English will be removed.

Why English only? South Africa has eleven beautiful, eloquent and superb official languages. Why restrict the user and member contributions to English only?

RealFact does not discriminate against anyone based on his or her language. The English only rule is aimed at including the widest possible South African and International audience, not excluding South Africans who are not functionally literate in English, or have a specific language preference.

English has become the widely preferred business language in South Africa. We are not going to quote any research or statistics in this regard. This is RealFact's current belief. You can discuss this point elsewhere on the RealFact website IN ENGLISH, but such discussion will not change the RealFact English only policy.

English is the official South African language that is most widely used around the world. By conducting the discussions on real estate and property related matters on the RealFact website in English, RealFact is accessible to the widest possible audience, which also includes the general South African public.

By implementing an English only policy, the least possible amount of South Africans are excluded from participating in discussions and contributing content to the RealFact website.

By restricting the RealFact website content to English only, we can ensure that search engine searches include an optimal number of relevant pages and articles from the RealFact website. This makes it easier for users to find specific and even obscure terms contained in the content available from the RealFact website.

RealFact is currently looking into the possibility of creating an Afrikaans version of the RealFact website, and will consider doing the same for other South African languages, whether among the official languages or not, based on public demand and user interest.

After listing our reasoning behind the "English only" rule, we believe that you can understand the rational reasons for restricting you to using English. But MOST IMPORTANTLY, RealFact is currently graciously being hosted FREE OF CHARGE, by Host Matrix, a free internet hosting company which is British based and owned.

Part of RealFact's agreement with our web host is that we will ONLY use English for our website content. We are very happy with our free hosting account with Host Matrix, and fully intend to keep to the terms of our agreement. We are so impressed with the service we have received, that we would recommend Host Matrix to anyone who needs free web hosting.

For this reason, if none other, the second golden rule on the RealFact website remains: