Sign language will become the 12th official language in South Africa on Wednesday. President Cyril Ramaphosa will sign into law the Sign Language Bill during a ceremony at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
This comes after the National Assembly approved the amendment of Section 6 of the Constitution to include South African Sign Language as an official language.
The South African National Deaf Association (Sanda) Thoriso Mndawe says, “We are very happy and excited about this decision by President Ramaphosa for finally signing [the Language Bill] into law. It is long overdue. Deaf people will be recognised in the community and sign language users will be included and accommodated.”
The audio below is reporting more on the story:
The recognition of South African Sign Language as the 12th official language is an important step towards the realisation of the rights of persons who are deaf or hard of hearing. South African Sign Language is a minority language used by more than 600 000 people in South Africa.
According to a statement from the Presidency, South African Sign Language is an indigenous language that has its own distinct grammatical structures and lexicon and is independent of any other language.
The new legislation seeks to advance the cultural acceptance of SASL, ensure the realisation of the rights of persons who are deaf and hard of hearing and promote inclusive and prevent or eliminate unfair discrimination on the grounds of disability.
South Africa becomes the fourth country on the African continent to recognise sign language as an official language after Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda.
Founder of the Wits Centre for Deaf Studies, Professor Claudine Storbeck speaks to SABC Morning Live:
