South African Sign Language (SASL, ) is the primary sign language used by deaf people in South Africa. The South African government added a National Language Unit for South African Sign Language in 2001. SASL is not the only manual language used in South Africa but it is being promoted as the language to be used, although Deaf people in South Africa historically do not form a single group.

In 1995, the previous South African National Council for the Deaf (SANCD) was transformed into the Deaf Federation of South Africa (DeafSA), which resulted in a radical policy change in matters for Deaf people in South Africa, such as the development and adoption of a single sign language and the promotion of sign language over oralism. Schools for the deaf have remained largely untransformed, however, and different schools for Deaf children in South African still use different sign language systems. At several schools for the Deaf the use of any sign language is either discouraged or simply not taught. There are as many as twelve different systems of signed oral language in South Africa.

In addition to South African sign languages, American Sign Language (ASL) is also used by some Deaf people in South Africa. Most local sign languages in South Africa show the influence of American Sign Language.

In South Africa, newscasts on television employ the sign language known as SASL. The South African parliament also uses sign language, however different sign language interpreters are known to use various signals for the same topics. There are around 40 schools for the Deaf in South Africa, most using a variety of SASL.

Sign language is explicitly mentioned in the South African constitution, and the South African Schools Act permits the study of the language in lieu of another official language at school. A total of seven SASL interpreters have actually been accredited by SATI/DeafSA. SASL interpreters can apply for accreditation without having completed any formal training in SASL.

Status

South African Sign Language is not entirely uniform and continues to evolve. Due to the geographical spread of its users and past educational policies, there are localised dialects of South African Sign Language and signs with many variants. Earlier efforts to create reference material and standardise the language, such as books In May 2023 the bill was voted on by parliament, and on 19 July 2023 it was signed into law.

General recognition

The Constitution states that a board named the Pan South African Language Board should be established to "promote, and create conditions for, the development and use of ... sign language". In terms of the law that establishes the Pan South African Language Board (Act 59 of 1995), the board may establish language bodies to advise it on "any particular language, sign language or augmentative and alternative communication".

In terms of the Use of Official Languages Act, Act No. 12 of 2012, all government departments and government entities must have a language policy that states which languages are considered the official languages of that entity, and each language policy must also specify how that department or entity intends to communicate with people whose language of choice is "South African sign language".

Until 2023, neither South African Sign Language nor any other sign language was an official language of South Africa. In 2008 the SASL Policy Implementation Conference gathered many key role players including scholars, researchers and teachers, policy makers, advocates and governmental bodies to promote South African Sign Language to become recognised as South Africa's twelfth official language.

Educational recognition

According to the South African Schools Act, Act 84 of 1996, all schools must have a language policy, and that when selecting languages for such a policy, a "recognised Sign Language" should be evaluated as if it has official language status along with the other eleven official languages.

According to the "Language in Education" policy in terms of section 3(4)(m) of the National Education Policy Act, Act 27 of 1996, the main aims of the Ministry of Education's policy for language in education include "to support the teaching and learning of all other languages required by learners or used by communities in South Africa, including languages used for religious purposes, languages which are important for international trade and communication, and South African Sign Language, as well as Alternative and

Augmentative Communication".

South African Sign Language is accepted as one of the languages of instruction in the education of Deaf learners.

Demographics

The number of deaf people in South Africa (600,000 deaf and 1.4 million people with hearing loss) does not give an accurate depiction of the number of people who communicate in South African Sign Language. Estimates vary greatly, from 700,000 to 2 million users. There is presumably some regional variation, but signers from across the country can readily understand each other, as demonstrated for example at the annual Deaf Forum.

It is commonly believed among South Africans, even among Deaf South Africans, that different language communities have different sign languages. This is evidently the result of the Deaf not being able to understand sign-language interpreters from other communities. However, this is because such "interpreters" do not actually use sign language, but rather Signed English, Signed Xhosa, etc., and only those who have been schooled in these artificial codes can understand them. (See manually coded language in South Africa.)

History of education of the Deaf in South Africa

Timeline:

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General information:

  • About.com Sign Language in South Africa.

Organisations:

  • DeafSA – Deaf South Africa, national non-governmental organisation
  • DTV – Deaf TV is a South African Sign Language studio with weekly broadcast on national TV.
  • National Institute for the Deaf (NID) – non-profit / non-governmental organisation for the Deaf - Worcester, South Africa.
  • South African Sign Language Interpretation National Centre – Interpreting services

Learning:

  • LearnSASL.com – South African Sign Language Video dictionary.
  • Realsasl.com – South African Sign Language dictionary searchable by handshape, location or text.
  • University of Witwatersrand – SASL courses
  • Dante Languages - SASL (South African Sign Language) Courses and Professional Interpreters

Research resources:

  • University of Western Cape – SASL project 'iSign' and 'PhoneReader'
  • University of the Free State – Afroasiatic Studies, Sign Language and Language Practice – offers linguistic B.A. and M.A. courses .
  • University of Stellenbosch – English Text to South African Sign Language (SASL) Project
  • Sutton SignWriting – Dictionary of South African Sign Language sign represented in a graphical form.