South Africa becomes fourth African country to make Sign official language

South Africa has become the fourth country on the African continent to make Sign its official language following in the footsteps of Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Sign is now South Africa’s 12^th official language after President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the South African Sign Language Bill on Wednesday at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

“The recognition of South African Sign Language as the 12^th official language is an important step towards the realisation of the rights of persons who are deaf or hard of hearing,” read a statement from the Presidency.

South African Sign Language is an indigenous language that constitutes an important element of South African linguistic and cultural heritage. It has its own distinct grammatical structures and lexicon and it is independent of any other language.”

According to the Presidency, the new law will advance the cultural acceptance of SASL, 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 as well as promote inclusive and substantive equality and prevent or eliminate unfair discrimination on the grounds of disability, as guaranteed by Section 9 of the Constitution.

In addition, convenor of South African National Deaf Association, Thoriso Mndawe said they were very happy that Sign was now an official language.

“We are very happy and excited about this decision by President Ramaphosa for finally signing the SASL Bill into law. It is long overdue. Deaf people will be recognised in the community and sign language users will be included and accommodated,” said Mndawe.