The month of September has been declared as Deaf Awareness Month to raise awareness about South African Sign Language (SASL). The recognition of SASL as the 12th official language is an important step towards the realisation of the rights of persons who are deaf or hard of hearing and towards amplifying inclusive education in South African schools. This milestone builds on the strides administrations have made since 1994 to entrench and protect language rights. In 1996, the South African Schools Act of 1996 (SASA) officialised SASL in education for the purpose of learning at a public school and the DBE is committed to ensuring that all deaf children should have access to quality early childhood development, care and education in SASL.

President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the South African Sign Language Bill during a ceremony at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 19 July 2023. On 2 May 2023, the National Assembly approved that Section 6 of the Constitution be amended to include SASL as an official language to promote the rights of persons who are deaf and hard of hearing.

South African Sign Language is an indigenous language that constitutes an important element of South African linguistic and cultural heritage. It has its own distinct grammatical structures and lexicon and is independent of any other language. The new legislation seeks to advance the cultural acceptance of SASL; ensure the realisation of the rights of persons who are deaf and hard of hearing to equal protection and benefit of the law and human dignity; and promote inclusive and substantive equality and prevent or eliminate unfair discrimination on the grounds of disability, as guaranteed by Section 9 of the Constitution. With this initiative, South Africa becomes the fourth country on the African continent to recognise sign language as an official language; other countries are Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda.