It was a day of celebration and honour as South African Sign Language (SASL) was recognised as the 12th official language in the country, recently.
A grand celebration was held with a cake-cutting ceremony at Kwavulindlebe School for the Deaf in Havenside to welcome the new official language.
The National Assembly with 400 seats in parliament required 267 votes to pass the amendment, however they received 306 votes, indicating that the political parties support SASL as an official language. With four million hearing-impaired people using SASL, it was an extremely great achievement.
Sagree Singaram of VN Naik School for the Deaf said that she felt that this journey was similar to Nelson Mandela’s ‘long walk to freedom’.
“We have been patient in our pursuit. Emotionally, we embrace the recognition of SASL in our heart, much like we embraced the concept of freedom from Nelson Mandela. Gradually, SASL will gain accessibility in places such as hospitals, police stations, banks, universities, colleges and more. It will take time but we are confident in its progression,” she said.
The guest speaker was MEC Nonhlanhla Khoza of the KZN Department of Social Development. She spoke about the opportunities for the deaf child, women and the entire community, ensuring social transformation by recognising SASL as the department will be responsible to implement policies and programmes that promote the well-being and protection of the vulnerable group.
