THE NCOP APPROVES REPEAL OF THE TRANSKEIAN PENAL CODE AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN SIGN LANGUAGE AS THE 12TH OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) has, during its hybrid plenary this afternoon, approved the Repeal of the Transkeian Penal Code Bill.

The Code was enacted when the area formerly known as the Republic of Transkei became nominally ‘independent’. Despite the incorporation of the area into South Africa under the new democratic dispensation, in terms of the Constitution, 1996, the Code remains in force until repealed or amended.

The bill seeks to repeal the Transkeian Penal Code of 1983, which continues to apply in the area formerly known as the Republic of Transkei and to reinstate the application of the common law and rules in that area.

The National Assembly (NA) approved the repeal of the Bill on 28 February and was subsequently sent to the NCOP for consideration and concurrence.

Having considered the Bill, the Select Committee on Security and Justice recommended that the Council passes the Bill without any amendments.

During the same sitting, the House also approved the Report of the Select Committee on Security and Justice on the Constitution Eighteenth Amendment Bill [B1 – 2023] to amend section 6 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. The amendment is to include South African Sign Language (SASL) as an official language to promote the rights of persons who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Until now, the South African Constitution provided for 11 official languages: Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu. The adoption of this constitutional amendment will bring to 12 the number of official languages in South Africa.

Primarily, the amendment seeks to advance the cultural acceptance of SASL, the deaf culture; 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 to promote inclusive and substantive equality and prevent or eliminate unfair discrimination on the ground of disability, as guaranteed by section 9 of the Constitution.

The two Bills will now be sent to the President for assent.

Source: Parliament of South Africa