Over the past week, I have had a wonderful opportunity to interact with some of the groups within the three sectors that our ministry represents. We started with an interaction with children during the National Children’s Day last Saturday.
I have met some of the women’s organisations individually and this after, I will be proceeding to an interaction with stakeholders involved in the 16 Days of Activism Campaign on No Violence against Women and Children. The 16 Days Campaign will be launched in Cape Town on 25 November. The campaign seeks to mobilise all South Africans to play their role in responding to the major challenge of gender based violence which also affects women and children with disabilities.
I understand that many of the children accommodated here are vulnerable and some of these children, like many other people with disabilities, have been exposed to various forms of abuse in their communities. I therefore hope that the Disability Sector will actively support the 16 days Campaign to ensure that issues of gender-based violence affecting persons with disabilities are also highlighted.
We are gathered here today to launch the Disability Awareness Month. This campaign is guided by the theme: ‘Keeping the promise: Working together towards the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’
This Disability Awareness campaign offers an opportunity to highlight the barriers that still limit the realisation of rights of people with disabilities.
I am glad that earlier today there was a parade in the streets of Ivory Park to raise awareness about issues of disability. We have to continue with these campaigns and increase visibility of people with disability in our communities. This will ensure that disability issues are taken into consideration in community initiatives including infrastructure developments and access to various services.
Before coming here, we started with a visit to some of the homes of people with disabilities around this area. I was really touched by the conditions that some of them live and the enormous challenges they face in accessing basic services that government has made available.
Because of the desperate situation of the three children that we visited, we facilitated that they get wheelchairs that are manufactured to suit their individual needs. I would like to thank the Airport Company of South Africa for supporting the provision of these wheelchairs.
One of the children burnt himself this week while using a stove. Working together with Tumelo, we need to raise awareness in the community about risks that people with epilepsy and other severe forms of disability face when carrying out day to day activities. We also noted that there are children lying on the floor because of difficulties in sitting upright. We have to work together to find professional help that will work hand in hand with Tumelo to assist these children.
One of the major challenges facing this sector is the number of children with severe disabilities who are not enrolled in facilities like this because of space limitations. I am told that while this facility accommodates 32 children, you have more 40 others on the waiting list. The Ministry for Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities will be interacting with Education, Health, Social Development and other relevant departments to find solutions to this challenge.
We are not a service delivery ministry, but our role is to champion issues affecting the three sectors and monitor that government institutions responsible for particular services deliver them to women, children and persons with disabilities.
As part of social security net for people with disabilities, government is providing care dependency grant of R1 080 per monthto assist families to care for children with special needs in their homes. There is also a disability grant for adults over the age of 18 years who are unlikely to find employment because of their disability and have no or limited sources of income. The number of people accessing disability grants increased from 694 000 in 2002 to 1,2 million this year
The ministry will be prioritising sharply the issue of economic participation by people with disabilities. We have put the target of two percent of employment of people with disabilities as part of the total workforce. It is disturbing to note that the country is not making sufficient progress towards meeting this target as we are currently at 0.9%.
We have to encourage the private sector to continue to increase the number of employees with disabilities as it makes business sense. By employing an adequate number of people with disabilities and investing in them in terms of skills development, a company can attain up to five-points in their rating for Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) and there are tax benefits that come with that. We also encourage companies to direct their social responsibility programmes towards socio-economic empowerment of women, children and persons with disabilities.
With regarding to government, the primary responsibility of the Ministry for Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities is to ensure mainstreaming of gender, disability and children’s rights consideration throughout the government system. In line with this mandate of mainstreaming and oversight, we are going to ensure that every government department meets its individual obligation with regard to employment of persons with disabilities.
The ministry is going to implement a Monitoring and Evaluation tool that will serve to measure short, medium and long-term progress made in delivering services to persons with disabilities.
We have to improve access to transport in both rural and peri-urban areas where our people depend on buses and taxis. We have to increase the number of children with disabilities who enrol and progress successfully through the school system. If we can make progress in education, we can pull many people with disabilities out of conditions of poverty.
We will be deliberating on these and other issues at the Disability Summit to be held in Bloemfontein on 2 to 3 December. I am sure that as we commemorate the International Day for Persons with Disabilities on 3 December, we would have agreed on the common programme of action that the Ministry and the disability sector will work together on to ensure that disability issues remain high on our national agenda.
Thank you very much for your attention and I am looking forward to touring this facility and to see the work you do.
