Ramaphosa apologises for delay in making ‘sign-language’ official

GAUTENG – President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the South African Sign Language Bill at the Union Buildings on Wednesday. In May this year, the National Assembly approved that Section 6 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 be amended to include South African Sign Language (SASL) as an official language to promote the rights of persons who are deaf and hard of hearing.

“It has been indeed a long journey to get to this point, it has taken years and I am sorry that it has taken this long, but maybe could say that the long it has taken it has been given careful and serious attention as to avoid any form of dispute,” says Ramaphosa. “The recognition of South African Sign Language (SASL) as the 12th official language is an important step towards the realisation of the rights of persons who are deaf or hard of hearing.”

Ramaphosa says much more work still needs to be done to support the language. “It has to be standardised to collapse various geographical dialects into one standard official version which is the remit of the Pan South African Language Board. The fact that the first comprehensive electronic sign language dictionary has already been developed demonstrates the enthusiasm to develop this language,” he said.