South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed a bill that makes sign language the country’s 12th official language.
“South African Sign Language is the primary language of persons who are deaf or hard of hearing. We must respect it as a language of choice in all interactions,” the Presidency said in a statement on Wednesday.
At least 400,000 South Africans are known to use sign language, but the official number of those with hearing impairment could be higher.
“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,” President Ramaphosa said after signing the Sign Language Bill into law at the Union Buildings in Tshwane, Gauteng Province.
“This official recognition of sign language follows an intensive and extensive public consultation process,” he added.
Standardisation
South Africa now becomes the fourth country in Africa to recognise sign language as an official means of communication, after Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
South Africa’s other official languages are English, Afrikaans, Pedi, Sotho, Southern Ndebele, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu.
“Official recognition of sign language is just the beginning, much more work still needs to be done to support this language. It has to be standardised to collapse various geographical dialects into one standard official version,” said Ramaphosa.
