JOHANNESBURG, Aug 3 - Bongumusa Manana, a 19-year-old deaf student who studies in a township in Johannesburg, sees South Africa's move to recognise sign as an official language as a huge breakthrough that will help him to get to university and make his "dreams come true".
"Previously the challenge was that when you go to a police station or take a taxi, it was very difficult to communicate," Manana said in sign at the Sizwile School for the Deaf in Dobsonville, Soweto. Still, South Africa only has about 40 deaf schools and one tertiary institution that is fully accessible to deaf people, meaning there is still work to be done to improve that access.South African President Cyril Ramaphosa gestures in sign language after he signed legislation into law last month recognising sign as the country's 12th official language, alongside English, Zulu, Afrikaans and others, to help protect the rights of the deaf and promote inclusivity in Pretoria,...