President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law a bill that officially recognises Sign Language as South Africa’s 12th official language.
The signing ceremony took place at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, where pupils with hearing impairments were in attendance.
The president said that this would help resolve many barriers between South Africans and the deaf community.
“This will resolve issues of access to education, economic and other social services. People with hearing impairments will be able to have public information.”