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Sign language is on its way to become the 12th official language in South Africa after parliament recently agreed to amend the constitution to this end. The move will bring to fruition three decades of a struggle to empower the country’s deaf community. An official language has legal status in a state and serves as the language of administration (conducting day-to-day state business). We asked Theo du Plessis, an emeritus professor of South African Sign Language and Deaf Studies, for his insights. What was the process leading to sign language becoming an official language? Numerous attempts have been made since the adoption of the interim post-apartheid constitution in 1993 – in which South African Sign Language was not mentioned at all – to make it official.

South africaSouth africansSouth africanDebra aaronUnited nationsAfrican national deaf associationNational council of provincesNational assemblySouth african sign languageDeaf studiesSouth african national deaf associationPan south african language boardConstitutional review committeeSouth african signConstitutional eighteenth amendment billNational council