President Cyril Ramaphosa signs SA Sign Language into law as a 12th official language. Image:Twitter/@sagovnews
Sign language becomes 12th official language
South Africa follows Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda in recognising sign language as an official language
President Cyril Ramaphosa signs SA Sign Language into law as a 12th official language. Image:Twitter/@sagovnews
President Cyril Ramaphosa has officially signed South African Sign Language as the 12th official language at a ceremonyatthe Union Buildings. The move makes the country the fourth on the continent to have sign language as an official language following Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda.
Member of Parliament Wilma Newhoudt-Druchen thanked Ramaphosa for his recognition of sign language back in 1996 during the drafting of the Constitution which he chaired.
ALSO READ: South African Sign Language granted official language status
“We thank you for in that time for recognising sign language in the Constitution. But we were not happy. We lobbied that our language should become an official language, that is why we’re here in this moment and we’d like to thank you” says Newhoudt-Druchen.
RAMAPHOSA GETS TAUGHT SIGN LANGUAGE
ALSO READ:Sign language in becomes SA’s 12th official language
SASL RECOGNITION AIMS TO EMPOWER DEAF PEOPLE
ALSO READ: Watch: Nkosi Sikelela iAfrika performed in sign language
ALSO READ:‘They’ll use sign language’: SA reacts to metro cops’ body cams
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.
Ramaphosa says the recognition of sign language affirms the existence of people who use SASL to communicate.
“We are proud to join three other countries that have advanced in recognising sign language as an official language. We aim to advance the rights of people who communicate and ensure that their dignity is uplifted in our society. To empower people to use their language is to affirm their humanity and their existence” says Ramaphosa.
