Van tegniek tot ampstaal: Die opkoms van Suid-Afrikaanse Gebaretaal as 12de amptelike taal van Suid-Afrika

Wat hierdie werk bied:

• ’n Kritiese ontleding van hoe taalbeplanning van bowe-na-benede dikwels misluk, en waarom vindingryke "van benede-na-bowe" oplossings nodig is.

• Historiese dokumentasie omtrent ’n ryk skatkis van argiefmateriaal, notules en koerantknipsels wat die veramptelikingsproses in fyn besonderhede skets.

• Insig in die Dowe gemeenskap as ’n huldeblyk aan die verbetenheid van taalaktiviste wat, ten spyte van vele uitdagings, die "wa deur die drif gesleep het."

Van Tegniek tot Amptelike Taal is meer as net ’n verslag van statusverhoging; dit is ’n noodsaaklike besinning oor die toekoms van taalbestuur in Suid-Afrika. Dit daag beleidmakers en die publiek uit om verby die wetlike teks te kyk na die werklike implementering van regte vir die land se mees geminoritiseerde taalgemeenskappe.

On Wednesday, 19 July 2023, the President of South Africa signed the 18th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2023, which declares South African Sign Language (SASL) as a 12th official language. The Act, which will be promulgated at a future date to be determined by the President, represents the culmination of a relatively successful sign language campaign that can be traced back to the birth of the "new", post-apartheid, South Africa in 1994. The Deaf lobby and policymakers alike have trumpeted the symbolic value of this step but have conspicuously avoided references to its functional implications. Participants at a recent SASL Indaba in February 2024 were therefore shocked to learn that the government is not yet ready to implement the amendment act as it is cautious in avoiding a repeat of the failure to elevate and expand the status and use of the historically marginalized indigenous languages of South Africa. This has raised questions about the feasibility of a 12th official language and its implications for the sign language community. Is officialization the best option?

This monograph aims to critically investigate the emergence of SASL as an official language from a language planning perspective. This will be done by studying a series of concrete legal milestones with regard to language status and language acquisition planning for SASL that have been recorded since 1994. Among the key findings that emerge from this is that thanks to this range of impressive legal interventions, by 2014 SASL already enjoyed the same de jure and de facto status as the other 11 official languages; officialization in 2023 did not substantially change this situation. One of the key problems emerging from this analysis can be summarized in a single word: non-implementation. The study suggests that sign language campaigners will need to devise new strategies to help ensure the functional use of SASL and should be realistic about what official language status in South Africa entails.