South Africa's recognition of sign language signals new hope for the deaf

Bongumusa Manana, a 19-year-old deaf student who studies in a township in Johannesburg, sees South Africa's move to recognise sign as an official language as a huge breakthrough that will help him get to university and make his “dreams come true”.

President Cyril Ramaphosa signed legislation into law last month recognising sign as the country's 12th official language, with English, isiZulu, Afrikaans and others, to help protect the rights of the deaf and promote inclusivity.

“Previously, the challenge was that when you go to a police station or take a [minibus] taxi, it was difficult to communicate,” Manana said in sign at the Sizwile School for the Deaf in Dobsonville, Soweto.

“Before it was an official language ... there was no access” to communicating with other people, he signed.

South Africa only has about 40 deaf schools and one tertiary institution fully accessible to deaf people, meaning there is still work to be done to improve access.

“It is a rich, beautiful language, but we need people equipped enough to develop it more,” said Andiswa Gebashe, a South African Sign Language activist and former interpreter for Ramaphosa.

World Atlas, an online site that studies demographics, says only 41 countries recognise sign as an official language, just four of them in Africa — Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

It has been a long journey for South Africa to get this far and deaf students have been waiting “for those barriers to be removed”, signed Wilma Newhoudt-Druchen, the country's only deaf MP.

Manana's dream is to attend university next year.

“Now that it's an official language, I know I can go to university and make my dreams come true,” he said in sign. “I can achieve anything.”

Reuters