MEDIA STATEMENT
ATTENTION: EDITORS AND JOURNALISTS
DATE: 21 SEPTEMBER 2023
SOUTH AFRICAN SIGN LANGUAGE CHARTER WORKSHOP FOR NATIONAL AND GAUTENG GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS
The National Department of Sport, Arts and Culture in partnership with the Pan South African Language Board will be workshopping all national departments and Gauteng government departments on the South African Sign Language (SASL) Charter on 22 September 2023 at the Government Communication and Information System Head Office, Tshedimosetso House, 1035 Schoeman St, Hatfield, Pretoria.
The SASL Charter was launched on 4 September 2020. It contains nine key pledges that need to be implemented by South African society to promote fair and courteous treatment of the Deaf and support access to quality information and services. This is a long-term project which requires the holistic review of the SASL Charter every five years, considering input received from the public and stakeholders, as well as the monitoring of its implementation by the public service. Therefore, it is imperative that national government departments understand the importance of the Charter while developing their action plans to make sure that the Constitution Eighteenth Amendment Act 3 of 2023 is implemented accordingly.
On 19 July 2023, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Constitution Eighteenth Amendment Bill into law which recognised SASL as one of twelve official languages of South Africa. The signing comes after Parliament voted in favour of the endorsement of the Constitution Eighteenth Amendment Bill in May 2023.
During his speech, the President indicated that government would need to amend policies and develop fully resourced implementation plans for the realisation of the constitutional ideal of multilingualism. This workshop will provide national departments with an understanding of the pledges that are contained in the SASL Charter. The workshop will be conducted by the SASL National Language Body.
For media enquiries please contact:
Ms Zimasa Velaphi: Chief Director: Communication & Marketing | ZimasaV@Dsac.gov.za | Cell: 072 172 8925
Ms Ntombentle Huluhulu: Head: Marketing and Communication
ntombi@pansalb.org | Cell: 061 581 5216
ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF SPORT, ARTS AND CULTURE
