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The Parliamentary Constitutional Review Committee is considering recognizing South African Sign Language as the 12th official language.
The Deputy Minister of the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities of the Presidency, Professor Hlengiwe Mkhize, said that the parliament was considering amending section 30 of the Constitution and the national official languages.
“I want to emphasize that South African Sign Language is a right and not a privilege, and it is a front-line switching language for deaf people.
“Strengthening intersectoral collaboration between the government and the deaf community will make South Africa one of the countries that provide the deaf people’s mode of communication in their own local language,” said the deputy minister.
He was in Pretoria on Friday to address the launch of the South African Sign Language Charter, which was conceptualized to address issues related to communication, access to information, facilities and social justice for the deaf community, including the type of service provided by South African Sign Language Interpreters in general.
The charter articulates and affirms the linguistic rights of deaf people in South Africa and aims to create the conditions for the development of the South African sign language.
This September marks the 62nd anniversary of the celebration of the International Month of the Deaf People, as declared by the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD).
As part of the commemoration of this historic milestone, the Pan African Language Board (PanSALB) launched the South African Sign Language Charter.
This letter seeks to promote the recognition of the South African Sign Language as an official language to be included in Subsection 6 (1) of the Constitution, Law 108 of 1996, and to be adopted in terms of Section 234 of the Constitution of the Republic. South Africa, Law 108 of 1996.
“The Association of Deaf People has waged a long and hard fight for the South African government to recognize Sing Language in all its sectors and in society at large.
“Therefore, it is important to consider the legislation and regulation of the South African sign language when declaring it as the 12th official language of the country.
“It will be available on request or on demand to help the deaf community access services, information, public institutions and education with ease and in the language they understand,” Mkhize said.
The letter has considered the following aspects, for example:
- Recognition of South African Sign Language as the twelfth official language, deaf awareness activities for the South African public, promotion of deaf culture, access to all services and facilities by deaf people, inclusion of the language sign language in the curriculum of all educational levels and professionalization of South African sign language.
- Captioning, subtitling, and South African Sign Language go hand in hand, and the same applies to lip reading, relay interpreting, and non-academic hand signals that are more prevalent in township and rural areas.
“These services are needed to teach deaf young children and to promote South African sign language literacy among the deaf community in South Africa. My department is currently negotiating with the SABC to ensure that South African sign language is available on television, ”said the deputy minister.
PanSALB Board Chairman Dr. David Maahlamela said the launch of the letter is a major step towards ensuring the officialization of South African Sign Language as the 12th official South African language.
“The SASL Charter is based on the disability movement ‘nothing about us without us’. It is the product of years of extensive consultations with the deaf community that have culminated in this call to action for our government and civil society to come together and pledge their commitment to the principles of multilingualism and social cohesion that underpin the provisions of this Letter. ”Maahlamela said.
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