- At a plenary sitting of the National Assembly this week, South African Sign Language was officially approved to be the country’s 12th official language.
- The decision was taken to promote the rights of persons who are deaf and hard of hearing.
- It will be official when the President signs it into law.
South Africa is set to announce its 12th official language. This after a hybrid plenary session held by the National Assembly earlier this week, approving South African Sign Language (SASL).
As SA News reports, the decision was reached after the National Assembly approved the Report of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development on the Constitution Eighteenth Amendment Bill (B1 – 2023) to amend section 6 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.
The publication adds that SASL reached this decision in order to promote the rights of persons who are deaf and hard of hearing.
“Primarily, 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,” added Parliament spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo.
“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,” he added.
This is not the final step, however, as Bill will need to be signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa before it’s official, although no specific time frame has been outlined for when that will happen by.
For those unfamiliar, the 11 official languages of South Africa are:
- Sepedi,
- Sesotho,
- Setswana,
- siSwati,
- Tshivenda,
- Xitsonga,
- Afrikaans,
- English,
- isiNdebele,
- isiXhosa,
- isiZulu.
[Source – SA News]
[Image – Photo by RODNAE Productions]
