AbstractThe fate of colonial languages: a look at Dutch in Indonesia and in South AfricaGeneralisations on colonial language situations in Africa can be made by looking at existing situations. Three possibilities of what could happen to European languages in Africa are discussed. South Africa and Indonesia serve to illustrate two of these possibilities. Details of the misfortunes of Dutch in South Africa and Indonesia are analysed. The considerable differences in the fortunes of Dutch in the two colonies can be ascribed to the actions of the Dutch authorities in Indonesia to counter the development of a learners' variety of Dutch, on the one hand and to the rise of Indonesian nationalism as well as political decisions during and after the Second World War, on the other hand.