South Africa’s sign language gets official recognition

The National Assembly (NA) has approved the South African Sign Language (SASL) as the 12th official language during a hybrid plenary sitting on Tuesday.

The amendment was effected to promote the rights of persons who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Until now, the South African Constitution provided for 11 official languages, which include Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu.

“Primarily, the amendment seeks to advance the cultural acceptance of SASL, the deaf culture; ensure the realisation of the rights of persons who are deaf and hard of hearing to equal protection and benefit of the law and human dignity; and to promote inclusive and substantive equality and prevent or eliminate unfair discrimination on the ground of disability, as guaranteed by section 9 of the Constitution,” Parliament Spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, said.

According to Mothapo, the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development acknowledged that SASL is not a universal language but submits that, in South Africa, it is in the promotion and development of SASL that the various dialects are also recognised.

“In terms of section 74(4) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, a Bill that amends the Constitution may not include provisions other than constitutional amendments and matters connected with the amendments.

“The Committee noted that the use of South African Sign Language is mentioned in legislation, such as the Use of Official Languages Act 12 of 2012, the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996, and the Pan South African Language Board Act 59 of 1995,” he specified.

He further emphasised that the adoption of the Bill could impact the scope and purpose of the reference to sign language in such legislation.

“Relevant departments administering those and related legislation should take note of this constitutional amendment recognising SASL as an official language in terms of section 6 of the Constitution and consider whether the adoption of the Bill may require consequential amendment to associated legislation for purposes of clarifying the status of SASL as expressed in the Constitution,” Mothapo explained.

The amendment was adopted without opposition in the National Assembly.