South African Sign Language passes parliament vote to become 12th official language
Alex (Daily Moth): The South African parliament passed a major bill that would make South African Sign Language the 12th official language, as a part of its constitution.
I was able to interview Wilma Newhoudt-Druchen, who has been a deaf member of parliament since 1999 — with the exception of a two-year break.
[Begin interview]
Wilma Newhoudt-Druchen: We have 11 official languages. Deaf people have advocated for a 12th official language for various reasons. My committee adopted the recommendation to go to the National Assembly. The recommendation called for SASL to become the 12th official language. But understand this, in the National Assembly, if you want to pass a constitutional amendment, you must have two-thirds of the vote. So we were nervous because a two-thirds vote means most members have to be present. My political party has 259 members. We are the majority.
ANC stands for African National Congress. But we still need more votes to go past the threshold of 267. So on that day, the National Assembly held a debate on this bill. Every political party that was there approved it, all of them. 306 people voted yes. That’s all of them, all the political parties. Just two or three weren’t there because they were a tiny political party, but everyone voted in favor and the bill passed.
(Video clip, Credit: SABC News)
Newhoudt-Druchen: The president still needs to sign it, to sign the bill into law. So we are waiting for the president. But the president won’t just rubber stamp it. He has to look at it and make sure it’s all good and that there are no disputes, constitutional disputes. So we are waiting and hoping he will sign it!
Alex (Daily Moth): So it passed in a unanimous vote.
Newhoudt-Druchen: Yes!
Alex (Daily Moth): I’m sure that you being an MP has an impact because your colleagues know you and are familiar with sign language.
Newhoudt-Druchen: Right.
Alex (Daily Moth): If you weren’t there, others wouldn’t have an idea.
Newhoudt-Druchen: Right, yes. It certainly makes a difference with a Deaf MP there. I sign all of my speeches, declarations, and questions. I sign in to my committee meetings. I have two full-time interpreters. So it does make a difference. I feel they get that deaf people need an official language. They have a better understanding.
(Video clip, Credit: SABC News)
Alex (Daily Moth): What are some of the most important changes you want to see with the amendment?
Newhoudt-Druchen: Many universities require knowledge of two official languages for admission. Some universities accept deaf students, yes, but some universities turn them away because they only know one official language — or they don’t have a second. Sometimes SASL is the second language, but it is not accepted by the university. So now they don’t have any more excuses. They have to admit deaf people with both languages — English or Afrikaans or Zulu or Xhosa — and SASL. No excuses. So, this (bill) will help us, absolutely. Some institutions or private practices refuse to hire an Interpreter. So we can show the amendment and say it’s an official language now.
[End interview]
Alex (Daily Moth): Newhout-Druchen said she hopes that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will sign the bill by September, which is the International Deaf Awareness Month.
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Now here are comments from Bruno Druchen, who is the executive director of the Deaf Federation of South Africa, or DeafSA for short.
[Begin interview]
Bruno Druchen: We have advocated for the national broadcaster for television to add a sign language interpreter. They declined and said SASL was not recognized. So there are many issues that have happened. It was very emotional for us. I was there and I witnessed how the parliament — this is how you sign “parliament” — discussed sign language. It was very emotional.
(Images and video clips from DeafSA) Credit: Facebook/DeafSA
Druchen: We must do more work because SASL has applications in the educational, justice, human rights, and other sectors. So the (bill) will flow into helping improve and give a better future for deaf people with more sign language.
[End interview]
Alex (Daily Moth): Thank you both so much for your time. Congratulations to deaf people in South Africa. We will update you on the SASL bill whenever the president is ready to sign it.