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The Deaf South Africans of South Africa

The Deaf South Africans of South Africa, numbering approximately 597,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a community of individuals who are culturally Deaf and actively participate in Deaf culture, often using sign language as their primary means of communication. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and South African Sign Language is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Deaf South African

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Deaf Peoples
Country: South Africa
People Cluster: Deaf
Primary Language(s): South African Sign Language (sfs)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 597,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG047052
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Pray for the Deaf South Africans of South Africa

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: South African Sign Language
Language Family: Sign Language

86%
%
South African Sign Language Speakers

Media Resources in South African Sign Language:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in South African Sign Language:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the South African Sign Language bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Deaf South Africans are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Deaf South Africans:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Deaf South Africans of South Africa

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
readPsalm 9:9-10

Pray that God will help those who are oppressed and without hope to hear the good news of Jesus and trust in Him, for He has never forsaken those who seek Him.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
read1 John 1:5

As mobile phones, radio, and satellite television, and other technologies become more available worldwide, pray for people who are developing digital gospel resources so that others can easily access the gospel.

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
readDeuteronomy 6:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and might, as they strive to live lives that honor and glorify Him.

The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
readJohn 1:35-36

Pray for those God sends to cross cultures to share the gospel, that they might faithfully share the good news of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Deaf South African Across Countries (ROP3 - 116529) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Deaf South AfricansPG047052Deaf South AfricansSouth Africa597,000Engaged yet UnreachedSouth African Sign LanguageProtestantism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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