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SASL Star: Lerato Sheila Thamahane

22 September 2021 | Story Michelle Nöthling | Photo Supplied

Lerato Thamahane may be able to speak and understand all nine of South Africa’s official African languages, but it is a tenth language she is devoting her life to: South African Sign Language (SASL).

With nearly ten years’ experience as a SASL interpreter in several settings – ranging from the medical and mental-health fields to that of conferences and Deafblind interpreting – Lerato is living her life’s purpose. “I regard myself as a member of the Deaf community and a servant at the same time.”

Lerato lives by the principle that the more perspectives she gains on the world, the better service as an interpreter she can provide. This is also part of the reason why Lerato decided to take on the role of student again to study BA Language Practice to provide her with an even broader perspective on the field.

But why does Lerato feel so strongly about SASL? It is only through Sign Language, Lerato explains, that one can bridge the divide between the world of the hearing and that of the Deaf. “SASL is the only way for the minority Deaf group to receive and transfer information,” Lerato emphasises. “Deaf people cannot communicate in any other way.” Now, consider for a moment the plight of a Deaf child in South Africa. To receive education in SASL, most Deaf children have to move far away from home at a very young age in order to attend a school for the Deaf. For many years, schools for the Deaf did not include other languages as subjects, which prevented Deaf school-leavers from entering higher education. Although this situation has largely changed, Deaf students are still fighting an uphill battle when entering higher education institutions where prejudice and ignorance still persist. This is where the work of the Centre for Universal Access and Disability Support (CUADS) and the Department of South African Sign Language (SASL) and Deaf Studies makes such a crucial difference.

“I firmly believe,” Lerato says, “that only Sign Language can open opportunities for all groups of the Deaf community – from Deaf children to adults, and from the uneducated to the most educated Deaf people.” It is for this reason, Lerato argues, that our constitution needs to recognise SASL in order to give Deaf people full and equal access to information, to education, and ultimately, to all the opportunities South Africa has to offer.

News Archive

Centre for Universal Access and Disability Support HOD selected as prestigious Fulbright scholar

2015-06-24

Hetsie Veitch and Gabriela Schroder
Photo: Valentino Ndaba

Hetsie Veitch, who has served as the Head of the Centre for Universal Access and Disability Support at the university for the past seven years, recently won the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship for studies in the USA. Hetsie has been placed at the renowned Syracuse University in Upstate New York, where she will read for a PhD in Disability Studies in the School of Education.

By focusing on matters of social justice in the pedagogy of higher education, Hetsie will explore the creation of universally accessible learning spaces for students so that she can apply these ideas on her return to South Africa in four years.

Under her leadership, the Unit for Students with Disabilities (USD) was transformed into the Centre for Universal Access and Disability Support (CUADS) in order to reflect new approaches to universal access and universal design.“It is my ultimate goal,” says Hetsie, “to create an institutional culture that includes and welcomes all students with disabilities.”

It is difficult to fully capture the enormous contribution Hetsie has made to the UFS in disability justice, by establishing platforms for students with disabilities that enable them to be appreciated as individuals, and to excel in academic studies.

One of our star students, Gabriela Schröder, also won the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship. Gaby, as she’s called, will be taking up doctoral studies in Biochemistry at a leading university in her field, namely North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Gaby earned her BSc Honours degree in Biochemistry at the University of the Free State, after also completing her undergraduate studies in Chemistry and Biochemistry at Kovsies.

She participated in the F1 Leadership for Change Programme (Class of 2011) as part of the first-year cohort that went to the University of Vermont. In 2012, she was selected to participate in the elite Stanford Sophomore College Programme with students from Oxford University (UK) and Stanford University in California.

In 2014, Gaby was awarded the Dean's Medal, a distinction which is presented to the best final-year student studying towards a Bachelor’s degree in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. She was also the proud recipient of the Senate Medal, awarded for academic excellence in the achievement of a Bachelor’s degree at the university.

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