Language that wants to be seen, not heard

Deaf people are renewing their call for sign language to be recognised as an official language in South Africa.

DeafSA national director Bruno Druchen said the recognition of South African Sign Language (SASL) would enable deaf people to enjoy the same rights as others and improve the quality of their life.

"SASL is well recognised in the constitution and is given a special status but because no educational institution appears to abide by these constitutional provisions they are essentially just for show.

"The question is whether SASL will simply have recognition, or whether its use . will be given official and therefore legal force, [which would mean] schools for the deaf and publicly provided interpreting services being obliged to use SASL."

Druchen said SASL held the key to a deaf person's enjoyment of all his human rights.

The Pan South African Language Board, established to encourage multilingualism, supports the call for SASL to gain official status.

"There is a high unemployment rate among deaf people in this country," the board's spokesman, Sibusiso Nkosi said.

"Non-observance and violation of the linguistic rights of deaf people can be directly linked to the fact that SASL is not officially recognised.

"Workers at most public institutions are not literate or conversant in sign language and this creates barriers in service delivery."

He said the development of sign language was uncoordinated.