Under apartheid, the Bantu Education Act mandated mother-tongue instruction for Black African students in primary schools, often using limited resources in vernaculars, followed by Afrikaans or English in higher grades. This colonial-derived policy aimed to prepare Africans for subordinate roles, reinforcing linguistic fragmentation and limiting access to power languages. It built on earlier British and Dutch policies that privileged European languages in administration.

The policy stifled but also galvanized vernacular literary production, inspiring poets like Mongane Wally Serote to use English and local languages for protest poetry. It shaped the Black Consciousness movement's literary expressions, where language became a site of resistance. Post-apartheid, it influenced efforts to elevate indigenous languages in poetry, fostering hybrid forms that address identity and inequality.