Quotation marks mostly show directly speech, but:

Quotation marks can show the exact words that someone has written. Example: The author, JJ Tolkien, wrote, ‘There is some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.’

Quotation marks can also show that words are in another language or are slang. Example: It’s not the end of the world, ‘chommie’. OR I am going to write to ‘Utatamkhulu’ to tell him about my studies. (In a printed text, the words in quotation marks may be in italics, instead: It’s not the end of the world, chommie. OR I am going to write to Utatamkhulu to tell him about my studies.) Please note however, that it is not wrong to have slang that is NOT in quotation marks or italics. It depends on the choice of the writer.

Quotation marks can also take the place of ‘so-called’ in a sentence, to show that you don’t believe what the word is saying. Example: That ‘gentleman’ is behaving like a criminal. This means that you don’t really believe the man is a gentleman at all. This is an example of a euphemism (a word that is used to disguise how unpleasant or embarrassing something is). The euphemism in quotation marks can be more than one word.

If there is a quote within a quote (someone quotes someone else’s words), then you use single quotation marks inside double (‘ “    ” ’) or double quotation marks inside single (“ ‘  ’ ”).

Examples:

Ben said, ‘I loved reading the book, “Too young to die”. Did you enjoy it?’

OR: Ben said, “I loved reading the book, ‘Too young to die’. Did you enjoy it?”

‘I am “dik” of fish and chips already!’ Johan exclaimed. (This example shows words in slang or another language inside direct speech.)