In a new epoch for the Deaf community, South African Sign Language (SASL) is now the 12th official language of the country following years of advocating for its inclusion.
South Africa became the first country in the world on Wednesday to recognise its national sign language as an official language in the country’s constitution.
This after President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the South African Sign Language Bill during a ceremony at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
It follows the National Assembly on May 2 approving the amendment of Section 6 of the Constitution to include SASL as an official language.
“South African Sign Language has served as an essential communication tool for our citizens living with disabilities, and this step will further empower the community.
“By making sign language official, we aim to advance their rights to substantive equality, dignity and also their social inclusion.
“To empower people to use their language is to affirm their humanity.
“This official recognition of sign language follows an intensive and extensive public consultation process,” said Ramaphosa.
He said having sign language recognised will address barriers to education, economic and other social opportunities as well as public participation.
“Educators in schools are regularly undergoing training on sign language and we have learners who have completed matric using sign language.
“Specialised schools for the deaf have to be increased in the country, factoring in geographic spread and need. They also have to be provided with qualified personnel.
“It is also crucial that there are sign language interpreters to enable access to services for people who cannot hear or hear properly. It has to be standardised to collapse various geographical dialects into one standard official version which is the remit of the Pan South African Language Board.
“The fact that the first comprehensive electronic sign language dictionary has already been developed demonstrates the enthusiasm to develop this language.
“PanSALB has already convened its first workshop on lexical and grammatical standardisation and the recommendations of the report produced are currently being enacted,” he said.
The Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) said the recognition was a milestone for constitutional democracy.
“The PanSALB believes that this achievement further validates and solidifies South African Sign Language as a language resource for unleashing the potential of the deaf community at large. This also presents an opportunity for ordinary South Africans to learn South African Sign Language to bridge the vast gap that exists between the hearing and the deaf community.”
Stellenbosch University’s Department of General Linguistics lecturer, Susan Njeyiyana, said the recognition of the SASL was a long time in the making.
Njeyiyana is also from deaf community.
“We’ve been fighting to be recognised by the government, by society, and by the education system.
“I believe the real difficult work still lies ahead. We still have a long road toward recognising that Deaf Education cannot, for the most part, be part of mainstream or inclusive education.
“The pedagogy needed for teaching a deaf child is vastly different and many deaf children will be lost in such a system.
“Our priority should be to provide education in a child’s first language, and in the case of a deaf child, that would be SASL, from a teacher who’s qualified and fluent to the level of a first language user.
It’s time for deaf teachers to be trained to become the role models that deaf children need,” said Njeyiyana.
Univeristy of the Free State’s South African Sign Language and Deaf Studies lecturer Jani de Lange said the move marked a proud day for the deaf community.
Cape Times