South African sign language: changing policies and practice

In April 1994, South Africa held its first democratic elections, and as a result of the election of the new government, the policy of apartheid which had governed each and every aspect of the lives of all South Africans, was officially abolished. Needless to say, the simple abolition of apartheid did little to affect the many years of profound damage, and the heritage of apartheid will be with us for many years to come. The consequences of the policy of apartheid can nowhere more clearly be seen than in the structure of education provision in South Africa. Deaf people in South Africa have been affected by the policies of apartheid, and its educational and linguistic consequences, in a profound and thoroughgoing way.