NEARLY two years since South African Sign Language (SASL) became the country’s 12th official language, there has been little progress by the government in implementing the 18th constitutional amendment.

The Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) is unhappy with the progress made since the National Assembly approved the constitutional amendment in May 2023 and President Cyril Ramaphosa enacted it two months later in July that year.

PanSALB is the country’s constitutional institution established to promote and create conditions for the development and use of all official languages, including the Khoi and San languages. The official recognition of the SASL was meant to redress access to quality education, socioeconomic opportunities, and public participation for deaf South Africans.

The PanSALB has now detailed the struggles faced by state institutions, which by law, are required to promote and use all official languages including the newly recognised in terms of the Use of Official Languages Act.

According to the board, data was collected from 49 national departments, public entities, and enterprises, but only four national public enterprises stated their readiness, which is only about 8% of the total submissions.

The National Treasury reported to the PanSALB that Braille and SASL are currently not provided for publications due to budgetary and capability constraints.

However, in its response to the board, Treasury has promised that Braille and SASL services will be outsourced.

The National Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has acknowledged its inclusion of SASL in its language policy, acknowledged a lack of resources and finances to find adequate SASL interpreters, and suggested outsourcing them until further notice.

Another challenge facing government departments was noted by the Department of Mineral Resources, which stated that it had a sign language interpreter in its establishment, but the person resigned, and attempts to fill the post were unsuccessful as suitable candidates preferred to freelance rather than take up the position full-time.

The National Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, under which PanSALB falls, has one full-time sign language interpreter and is recruiting a second to meet the demand. Also under way is the project to digitalise the SASL.

The project aims to develop a sign language interpreter system and an online SASL dictionary and is advancing SASL for the fourth industrial revolution technological development using place names with the University of the Free State.

It is hoped that this will help develop a usable computer-readable data repository for SASL toponomy (study of place names, origins, meanings, usage, among others) in order for technologies for the SASL to be created and developed.

According to the department, the developed resources will be publicly accessible to researchers, stakeholders in the Deaf community, and government agencies.

PanSALB has noted that it has received mixed measures regarding the implementation of the constitutional amendment.

”A few national organs of state have made commendable efforts to incorporate SASL into their language policies and practices. Non-compliance with the Use of Official Languages Act presents difficulty to determine whether there are adequate measures implemented to the language provisions of the Constitution and the related-language legislation,” the board explained.

In addition, it noted that funding of the language-related programmes and projects in compliance with the Constitution and Use of Official Languages Act is cited as the biggest stumbling block to implementation.

It warned that national organs of state always report a lack of funding to implement these language provisions and that the lack of funding has a ripple effect on the number of skilled and professional personnel, establishment of the departmental or institutional language units as prescribed by the act and the Constitution.

Non-compliance also blocks the development and use of previously marginalised languages in compliance with the country’s supreme law, redress of the past injustices which are colonialisation, linguicism (discrimination based on language or dialect), and apartheid.

The PanSALB is pleased with the positive measures to digitalise the SASL, enhance sign language’s accessibility through online dictionaries and interpreter systems, and train frontline public servants on the basics and provision of interpreting in most of the national government’s public engagements.

loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za

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South African Sign Language rollout stalls amid funding crisis

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