Sibusiso Mondlane retires at SABC News as a sign language specialist anchor
Sibusiso was one of the anchors who were covering SASL interpreting services for late former president Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday celebration in Ellis Park.
Local language specialist Sibusiso Mondlane retired from television.
Sibusiso was born and bred in Emalahleni. In 2006 he went to upgrade his matric subjects at Nkangala FET College and was introduced to the deaf community and South African Sign Language (SASL).
Consequently, he took up a course in introduction to SASL at DeafSA Mpumalanga offices. This in turn assisted his career ambitions where he led a language services unit in a schedule three government entity since 2015.
Sibusiso is currently a Witwatersrand University graduate student and he is also enrolling his second-year Masters of Arts degree in translation and interpreting studies with the same university.
His research report focuses on strategies used by media SASL interpreters during the Covid-19 pandemic announcements.
He is known for anchoring news in sign language in the SABC 17:30 Siswati bulletins and special broadcast programs.
Seconded by the DeafSA federation, he has been on television news programs since August 2008.
Sibusiso said his love for sign language, with a gentle push by his friend Ms Nthabiseng Ndlovu helped him to pave his way to being a professional sign language reporter.
“Nthabiseng was employed as a sign language interpreter at DeafSA Mpumalanga. She now works with eNCA Prime Time bulletin. She inspired me to take up a basic course in SASL and during my classes, I discovered how marginalized deaf people are and the urgency of recruitment of trained sign language interpreters,” he said.
Sibusiso said deaf people are facing challenges like access to psycho-social support, education, current affairs, and job opportunities.
He said empathy has inspired him to be an agent of change, hence he believes that South African Sign Language is a beautiful valuable language with its grammar, vocabulary, and syntax.
He further said that deaf culture has expanded his appreciation because he is now able to communicate complex ideas with deaf people, like in any language. Sibusiso said to learn sign language was not that challenging, even though there were hiccups along the way.
“With a multilingual brain, I could frankly say my mind is like a sponge. It absorbs new concepts quite easy, however some of the challenges I faced was learning a new language like SASL at the age of 19, it was far more challenging than doing so at a young age, moreover, I did not have many opportunities to immerse myself in the language outside of the classroom”.
He added that in many instances his interaction was limited to watch IsiNdebele/Siswati 17:30 SABC bulletins which had an interpreter, not knowing that one day he will find himself in the newsroom.
Sibusiso’s journey with SABC has come to an end. He is about to embark on a new journey now, but he says he will continue working on a freelance basis and give pro bono services where possible because media interpreting has developed him into a seasoned specialist in language practice, from anchoring stories of national importance to appreciating journalism in its depth and the demands and controls of the studio setting.
Sibusiso was one of the anchors who were covering SASL interpreting services for late former president Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday celebration in Ellis Park.
Again in 2014, he covered the inauguration of former president Jacob Zuma at the Union Buildings. He also covered the 54th National Recreation Centre of the African National Congress (Nasrec), the IEC national elections, to name a few of his career highlights.
He said in his spare time he writes academic journals and articles related to his profession, translation, and interpreting and he added that he is passionate about universal access in the public sector, in particular, indigenous languages and disabilities.
Sibusiso was last seen stepping down on Monday, August 31 on the eve of National Month for Deaf persons. He has served an amazing journey of 13 years as a public broadcaster playing his role in ensuring that news is accessible to the deaf community of South Africa. Mondlane has also officially announced his retirement from the SABC on a Facebook post, and here are his last words to the youth: “You’ve got to grab every opportunity that comes up so that you remain relevant and your mind is busy with something. No matter how small or big, your curiosity will take you to places.”
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