Cape Town - The National Assembly approved the report of the portfolio committee on justice and constitutional development to amend the Constitution to include South African Sign Language (SASL) as an official language.
South Africa has 11 official languages which are Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu.
The adoption of this constitutional amendment on Tuesday will bring to 12 the number of official languages in the country once President Cyril Ramaphosa signs the bill into law.
There has been a push over the years for sign language to become an official language.
In 2017, Parliament resolved the matter after its Constitutional Review Committee processed submissions made in 2015.
Submissions were received in 2015 from Deaf South Africa, among others, saying while sign language was well recognised in the Constitution and given a special status, it was not sufficient to enable deaf people to enjoy all constitutional rights.
“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.
He said the amendment bill was introduced and referred to the portfolio committee on January 12, 2023, for consideration.
The portfolio committee received 58 written submissions from individuals and organisations, with the majority of the submissions being in support of the amendment.
“The committee noted the opposing views expressed by a few commentators, but submits that the recognition of SASL, as a 12th official language, is an important step towards the realisation of the rights of persons who are deaf and hard of hearing.
“Further, the committee acknowledged that SASL is not a universal language (different countries have their own sign language and regions have dialects) but submits that, in South Africa, it is in the promotion and development of SASL that the various dialects are also recognised,” Mothapo said.
He said the committee noted that the use of South African Sign Language was mentioned in legislation such as the Use of Official Languages Act, the South African Schools Act, and the Pan South African Language Board Act.
“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 said.
Cape Times