September is Deaf Awareness Month, and South Africa is marking it with a proud reminder of a world-leading milestone: South African Sign Language (SASL) is one of the country’s official languages, signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa in July 2023.
Launching this year’s observance under the theme “Declaring Deaf People’s Human Rights,” Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) CEO Dr Keaobaka Seshoka called on all sectors of society to work together to bring down communication barriers and let the language flourish.
“A right, not charity”
“We must, as a society, come together and ensure that access to quality information becomes a lived reality for the deaf community. We must also make sure that providing South African Sign Language interpretation is not treated as charity; it is a right,” Seshoka said at the virtual launch on Tuesday.
Her vision is a country where constitutional recognition translates into everyday service: deaf South Africans served in their own language at hospitals, police stations, courts and universities alike.
Nothing about us without us
Seshoka stressed that deaf people themselves must be at the table when decisions about language accessibility are made. “We cannot continue designing solutions for deaf people without working with deaf people. We need to work alongside the deaf community. We must support the development and increased use of South African Sign Language and create conditions in which it can flourish,” she said.
PanSALB is urging organisations across the country to adopt the South African Sign Language Charter, which sets out pledges to improve deaf communities’ access to quality information and to protect their linguistic human rights.
Starting with families
Encouragingly, the work is already reaching into homes. PanSALB is partnering with other departments to run workshops for parents and families of deaf children, recognising that early language acquisition, family support and inclusive communication are fundamental to the education and the social and emotional development of deaf children.
“These initiatives form part of PanSALB’s broader commitment to promoting linguistic human rights, advancing the use of South African Sign Language and fostering a more inclusive society in which deaf persons can participate fully and equally in all spheres of life,” Seshoka said.
With SASL taking its rightful place among South Africa’s official languages, Deaf Awareness Month 2026 is both a celebration and an invitation: learn a sign, share a conversation, and help build a country where every voice, spoken or signed, is heard. Source: SAnews.gov.za
Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
Leave a Reply