Persons with disabilities deserve dignity and equality
In South Africa’s 28 years of democracy, the rights of persons with disabilities (PWD) have been significantly advanced.
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 and the Bill of Rights give equal protection to everyone and prevent discrimination based on disability and other factors, such as race, gender and age.
Post-1994, the White Paper on an Integrated National Disability Strategy was released in 1997, the Employment Equity Act, 55 was passed in 1998 to protect PWD from unfair discrimination in the workplace, South Africa ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2007 – which means the country is bound to protect and promote the rights of PWD, the White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was approved by Cabinet in 2015 and the Presidential Working Group on Disability was launched in 2016.
Much still needs to be done, however. The reality is that
PWD are at the lower end of the ladder when it comes to equality and human rights. From inaccessible buildings and uneven sidewalks to stigmatisation and transport and communication challenges, PWD suffer a number of injustices.
PWD do not want to be treated differently. Rather, they want society to put in place infrastructure and mechanisms that allow them to operate without limitations. They want to be seen and heard, not pitied or overlooked.
National Disability Rights Awareness Month, which is celebrated annually between 3 November and 3 December (the International Day of Persons with Disabilities), challenges every South African to see past PWD’s disabilities and look fully at the person, not the condition. It allows the nation to measure progress made in rooting disability inclusion in all spheres of society.
Census 2011 showed that the disability prevalence rate was 7.5% of the population. In addition, it showed that there was low labour market absorption of PWD. A follow-up study by Statistics South Africa in 2014 found that households headed by PWD had less access to basic services than households headed by persons without disabilities.
In the past months, South Africa has edged closer to meeting its CRPD obligations.
The Employment Equity Amendment Bill, 2020, has been finalised and should come into effect in 2023. The Bill amends the classification of PWD in line with international standards.
Two frameworks have been gazetted on universal access and design, and reasonable accommodation. The National Strategic Framework on Universal Design and Access deals with making the built environment and government services more accessible to PWD. The interlinked National Strategic Framework on Reasonable Accommodation for PWD deals with the modifications, adjustments, assistive devices and technology needed to ensure
the rights of PWD.
In May 2022, the National Strategic Framework on Disability Rights AwarenessRaising Campaigns for Persons with Disabilities was approved by Cabinet. It gives effect to the White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Also in May, Cabinet approved the Constitutional 18th Amendment Bill for public comment. Once approved, the Bill will make sign language South Africa’s 12th official language.
Sadly, the 2% target for the representation of PWD in the Public Sector has not been met. Instead, it hovers at around only 1%.
If we want all sectors of society to commit to changing the status quo for PWD, we must lead from the front. Let us work to reach the 2% employment target and do whatever else we can to ensure PWD are treated with fairness and dignity.