South African Sign Language (SASL) is on its way to becoming the country’s 12th official language.
The Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) has welcomed the approval of the publication of the 18th Constitutional Amendment Bill for public comment.
Mondli Gungubele, minister in the presidency, announced this development during a post-cabinet briefing on Friday (27/05).
“The SASL is the primary language of deaf people in South Africa that constitutes an important element of our country’s linguistic diversity and cultural heritage,” said Lance Schultz, PanSALB chief executive officer.
“The approval of the proposed bill amendment to section 6 of the Constitution not only brings us closer to its officialisation, but also reaffirms the democratic right of deaf persons to participate in public life using their own language.
“As a country, we must develop cross-sectoral policies and programmes to improve the deaf community’s access to quality information and ensure the effective protection of their linguistic rights.
“Without the adoption and implementation of language policies and practices that consider the needs of the deaf community, the officialisation of the SASL will not guarantee that the requisite changes are executed,” said Schultz.
- The proposed bill amendment will be gazetted by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development for public comment to recognise the SASL as the 12th official language of South Africa.
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