The National Assembly has adopted a bill that makes SA sign language an official language in terms of the constitution.
The bill, which adds SA sign language to the 11 official languages, will be sent to the National Council of Provinces for approval, and if passed, will need to be signed into law by the president.
The bill has taken more than a decade to reach and be passed by parliament.
The first suggestion of such a law was made in a 2007 by the Deaf Federation of SA (DeafSA), which approached the constitutional review committee to have sign language recognised.
DeafSA said at the time though there were deaf schools, SA sign language was not officially recognised and so state departments, institutions, media and facilities did not support it.
It is believed that by making sign language official, the government will be encouraged to allocate resources to develop it in provincial and local government departments.
A supporting vote of two-thirds of MPs was needed to pass the bill. There were 306 votes in favour of the bill, no abstentions and no-one voted against it.
Fifty-eight submissions were sent to the justice portfolio committee about the bill, with most in favour of it, justice committee chairperson Bulelani Magwanishe said.
SA sign language is recognised by the department of basic education as a home language and 2022 was the fourth year it was included in the curriculum as an official matric subject.
DeafSA national director Bruno Druchen said after the vote in favour of the bill, “I feel so stoked. We feel so happy. This will put us on equal footing with hearing South Africans.”
DeafSA believes making the language official will make it easier to motivate the employment of sign language interpreters at universities and hospitals and increase access to society for deaf and people hard of hearing.
The body says there are 4-million deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals in SA. The deaf are largely marginalised and struggle to obtain employment.
Parliamentarians across the spectrum expressed support for the bill before they voted for it.
EFF MP Yoliswa Yako welcomed the bill, saying: “This also shows that there is nothing wrong with amending the constitution every now and then, because society evolves and our understanding of issues evolves.
“We have 4-million people in SA who use sign language,” Yako said. “The amendment of the constitution to recognise sign language as one of the official languages should not even have been a matter of debate.”
GOOD MP Brett Herron said: “It is our constitutional duty to build a nation, which is inclusive. For too long, special needs, differently abled or disabled South Africans have been relegated to navigate a state that is unprepared and underdeveloped.
“By recognising [SA sign language] as a 12th official SA language, we take one giant step for the rights of deaf South Africans. But we take only one small step for the human dignity and rights of all South Africans who are excluded or underserviced because of their disabilities.”
National, provincial and local governments must do more for those who are excluded because of a disability, Herron said.
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