Persons with severe disabilities still experience difficulty in accessing education and employment opportunities, while households headed by persons with disabilities were found to have less access to basic services compared to households headed by persons without disabilities.
This is according to Statistics South Africa, which also reveal that there are disparities in terms of access to assistive devices across population groups and geography.
At the recent C20 South Africa Launch, which has mobilised 14 working groups to generate actionable policy considerations ahead of the G20 Summit, Sikelelwa Alex Msitshana, founder of the Deaf Empowerment Firm and chairperson of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD), highlighted ongoing challenges.
“We have come together to try and make sure the voice of people with disabilities is heard. People living with disabilities are still lacking in many respects, even though South Africa is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We have wonderful policies that are aimed at protecting the rights of persons with disabilities, but implementation is still lacking.
“In all of that, there is a need to address issues faced by people living with disabilities. We are looking at inclusive education. We are saying early childhood development for people with disabilities should be prioritised early enough so that they can receive the care they need and be able to go to school and learn from an early age,” she said.
Msitshana, speaking on the sidelines of the three-day C20 South Africa launch on Monday, also stressed the importance of establishing Early Child Development (ECD) structures for people living with disability, saying this will help bring about an early start to young children with various disabilities, who are sometimes not catered for within the existing education system.
