Representatives from the Deaf community in South Africa have welcomed a recent announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa that South African Sign Language (SASL) would become the country’s 12th official language.
South African Sign Language (SASL) is set to become South Africa’s 12th official language. The language is set to advance cultural acceptance and affirm equal rights for South Africans irrespective of their disabilities, according to a statement by President Cyril Ramaphosa following a virtual cabinet meeting on 25 May. ILLUSTRATION: Asive Mabula
This comes after the department of basic education (DBE) announced, on 20 May in their adjusted budget vote speech for the 2022/23 financial year, that it will incorporate Sign Language as an option in the school curriculum.
Dr Alta van Rensburg, deputy director of the Stellenbosch University (SU) Language Centre, said they hope the decision will open new doors for the deaf community in terms of accessing basic rights such as communicating with a doctor.
“Interpreting for these and other engagements are currently not provided by the government or companies. Having SASL as a 12th official language will hopefully go a long way towards establishing an accessible interpreting system,” said Van Rensburg via email correspondence to MatieMedia
The Language Centre at Stellenbosch University (SU) welcomed the decision by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet to make South African Sign Language (SASL) the 12th official language. The centre, alongside the department of general linguistics and the disability unit, are working on institutionalising SASL at SU so that deaf students can have the “full Matie experience”. PHOTO: Asive Mabula
Illze Aäron, the first deaf student to graduate at SU, in 2021, said that the decision is long overdue and means a lot to the deaf community.
“The government should provide SASL in [mainstream] schools so that those learners can be able to communicate with deaf people too,” said Aäron.
Van Rensburg said the Language Centre’s aim would be to have deaf teachers teaching deaf children in schools.
“SASL resources should be developed in such a manner that learners and teachers may have access to quality teaching and learning material for the subject of SASL from home language up to grade 12,” said Van Rensburg. She added that other subject materials, such as mathematics, should also be made available in SASL.
DeafSA welcomes decision
Jabari Mohamed, the provincial director of DeafSA, alongside Sign Language interpreter, Kevin Peterson, said that the inclusion of Sign Language as an official language is an amendment that the Deaf community has been wanting since 1994 and they welcome the decision to make it a 12th official language. PHOTO: Asive Mabula
“We as the Deaf community and advocates have been wanting this since 1994. Many have even passed away waiting for this amendment,” said Jabaar Mohamed, provincial director of The Deaf Federation of South Africa (DeafSA), in an interview with MatieMedia.
In the interview, interpreted by SASL interpreter, Kevin Peterson, Mohamed said they hope this amendment will bring about more support to the Deaf community as it is a part of their rights and culture.
“I am a part of the curriculum assessment board of basic education, and we have been making suggestions and last year we even had grade 12 students who wrote their exams in SASL,” said Mohamed.
Mohamed added that he hopes that this will help in having more people who understand Sign Language in the workplace.
“DeafSA works closely with the Western Cape language community and the department of arts and culture in providing Sign Language interpreters in hospitals, freelancers for interviews and for events,” added Mohamed.
According to the government statement, the bill will amend section 6(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996, which states South Africa’s current official languages.
The amendment bill had not been published at the time of writing.