Amahle Jemane holding her matric award; alongside are her parents and siblings celebrating her achievement. Picture supplied.
An 18-year-old Deaf student from the University of Free State (UFS) is using her extra time to teach South African Sign Language (SASL) to over 100 fellow hearing students.
Amahle Jemane from Johannesburg said her purpose is to bridge communication barriers between the Deaf and hearing people.
The former Grade 12 pupil from De la Bat School for the Deaf in Worcester, Western Cape made news headlines as a top matric achiever who scored 83% in her home language, SASL. She was among the 34 top 2023 matric achievers who were honoured by the Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga at the MTN Innovation Centre in Randburg, Johannesburg in January.
She was also among three Deaf learners who made it to the top two in SASL in the country. It was a great honour for her to represent her family name in the country.
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Jemane said, “Currently, I am pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Social Science and I major in Psychology, Criminology and minor in Sign Language.” Jemane is not the first person in the Deaf community to study a Bachelor of Social Science.
“But I would say that after completing my degree, it will absolutely make a big impact in the Deaf community,” said Jemane.
Amahle Jemane standing outside the University of Free State (UFS) main building, proudly wearing her high school uniform. Picture supplied.
Speaking of the SASL lessons that she offers to the hearing people at UFS, Jemane said:
“My Sign Language lessons are offered to hearing students who have not registered Sign Language as a module in university. From there I can encourage them to register for Sign Language as a module,” said Jemane.
One of the senior students at the UFS, Thando Mtsweni (21) who is benefiting from Jemane’s lessons, said her teaching method is excellent.
Originally from Mpumalanga, Mtsweni is a third year Bachelor of Education Student in the Senior and Further Education and Training (FET) phase, majoring in Life Sciences and Technology. She is the Resident Committee (RC) Diversity for House Conlaurês.
Responding to our media enquiry Mtsweni said:
Mtsweni added that, “Earlier this year, we received a message from the Housing and Residence Affairs office in the UFS telling us that we will be receiving a Deaf student. That made me panic a lot because as an RC Diversity it is my duty to ensure that her needs are met and she is catered for within the Residence. I then had to organise interpreters for our meetings, so it is easier for her to understand. However, along the way we faced some issues because our meetings are late at night, and it becomes unsafe for the interpreters to attend as they stay off campus. I also collaborated in this program because I wanted my house to learn how to communicate with Amahle as she plays sports and sometimes it is difficult for us to communicate with her on the court. So, it is much easier if we know Sign Language for easier communication.”
Third year student at UFS, Thando Mtsweni (21) says she is benefiting from Amahle Jemane’s Sign Language lessons.
UFS offers services that are aimed at empowering Deaf students to succeed, just as their hearing peers, within the institution. This is because the university has pledged to remove barriers for Deaf students by providing services to ensure equal access to learning opportunities.
UFS’ Director of communications, Lacea Loader said the university offers a wide range of academic and non-academic support services to all students, which includes the provision of South African Sign Language Interpreters (SASLIs).
Loader added that, Deaf students can access SASLIs in classrooms and at all university events, fostering inclusion in the campus community. Additionally, they also have a Centre for Universal Access and Disability Support which works directly with each student to identify their needs and connect them with relevant resources like tutors or academic writing assistance.
Jemane said she is happy with the support from the university:
She is excited about this new chapter of her life because attending UFS has always been her dream. This dream materialised when she matriculated and was honoured for it.
“The recognition I got was first at the national matric result ceremony then later in a few weeks, I attended two events that were hosted in the Western Cape. One was the Western Cape province matric awards, and the other was Cape Winelands District matric result award,” she said.
Jemane’s former teacher at De la Bat, Esté Labuschagne said she had the pleasure of experiencing her success. Labuschagne wishes her well in her future and hopes she continues to inspire others.
Describing Jemane, Labuschagne said:
Labuschagne said the school works hard to combat the challenges Deaf learners face.
“De la Bat's school staff makes it their mission to always have conversations with the learners about their unique skills and we ensure they strive to be better than the day before. Thus, we encourage the learners to be the best,” she said.
From the age of 15, Jemane’s passion has been to be an activist with a mandate to fight for the rights of the Deaf in the community and in the education system.
Jemane encouraged Deaf people to work hard and believe in themselves to succeed in life. She said, “Nothing is impossible,” adding that, “if I can do it, that means you can do it also.”
As the top Deaf learner in her previous school and other special needs schools in the Western Cape province, Jemane said she feels proud of representing her community.
“First of all, it is an honour to represent the Deaf community and being recognised that I made them proud. This success has made me feel like there is nothing impossible in being successful as a Deaf child.”
She concluded, “My message to the Deaf community is to face your challenges, accept them, and take action to win over them. Believing in yourself is the most important thing to achieve because it builds you up to succeed.”
