Why are eleven languages recognized as "official" languages?

South Africa is a very multicultural and multilinguistic country. Based on my observsations I would definitely refer to South Africa as a melting pot. While I was in South Africa studing for a few weeks, the language that I attempted to learn was Xhosa, I instantly faced language barriers. I never knew when to use Xhosa, and I didnt want to make any assumptions. While in Pretoria I noticed that not many people spoke Xhosa. Different languages have always been interesting to me, but the thought of one country having eleven official languages is mind bottling. Yes, South Africa has eleven official languages, however many of them could face extinction. Due to language shift, speech communities whose native languages are threathened because their intergenerational continuity is proceeding negatively, with fewer and fewer users (speakers, readers, writers, and even understanders) or uses every generation, some languages are more "dominent" than others. Instantly I noticed that english and afrikaans were the most commonly used languages. After talking to South Africans it seemed as if the more wealthy and more educated people spoke english or afrikaans. In the beginning I couldnt really grasp why there were eleven official languages when it seemed as if only two were widely used. I shortly realized that although the indigenous languages were obviously the minority, it was still important that they had their own distinct social identity. So the the question is, why are eleven languages recognized as "official languages"? It is because South Africa is a melting pot and all of the languages, even the native ones, have their own distinct identity and should be recognized.

~Kenya