12th official language for SA
The addition of South African Sign Language as an official language is aimed at promoting the rights of people who are hard of hearing and cannot speak, and primarily seeks to advance the cultural acceptance of sign language.
MEREBANK resident, Yasmeen Naraiash, 38, who was born deaf and mute and had trouble communicating due to her disability, has joined South Africans to celebrate the addition of South African Sign Language (SASL) as the 12th official language.
Although she has mastered the art of communicating via lip reading, Yasmeen said she was confident that the amendment will break the barrier in communication between those who are deaf and those who can hear clearly.
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“I am happy that the rights of those with this type of ability are being recognised. I hope that this will encourage more people to learn sign language to make it easier to communicate. Sign language should also be offered as a subject at school level so that children can grow up learning to communicate with those who are hard of hearing or cannot speak,” said Yasmeen.
Residents with hearing and speech impediments welcomed the National Assembly’s approval to amend the Constitution to include South African Sign Language (SASL) as an official language.
The addition of SASL is aimed at promoting the rights of people who are hard of hearing and cannot speak, and primarily seeks to advance the cultural acceptance of sign language.
Parliamentary spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, said the amendment will 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.
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“It will also promote inclusive and substantive equality and prevent or eliminate unfair discrimination on the ground of disability, as guaranteed in our constitution,” Mothapo said.
Until now, the South African Constitution provided for 11 official languages, which are Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu.
Mothapo acknowledged that although SASL is not a universal language, as different countries have their own sign language and regions have dialects, the addition of SASL as a 12th official language will serve to promote and develop SASL.
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