Programme Director
Mayor of Ethekwini
Premier of KwaZulu-Natal
Chairperson of DPI, Wilfredo Guzman Jara
Chairperson of DPSA, Mr. Muzi Nkosi
Regional Representative of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Ms Yanine Poc
US Special Advisor, Ms Judith Heumann
UN Special Rapporteur, Mr. Shuaib Chalken
Distinguished guests and delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is an honour and privilege for me to address this important gathering of the 8th World Assembly of Disabled People’s International that is meeting for the first time in our continent, Africa. The objective of this assembly is to review the development index in the Disability global agenda and to examine progress made since the 7th World Assembly which was held in South Korea four years ago.
Furthermore, the Assembly will develop a common agenda in the domestication and implementation of the United Nations (UN) Convection on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
As you know, the theme for this Assembly is: “Disability Movement United in creating a society for all through the UN Disability Convention and the Millennium Development Goals”.
This theme calls for unity in the disability sector in crafting a developmental approach towards the progressive realisation of fundamental human rights stated in the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the inclusive implementation of the Millennium Development Goals towards 2015.
The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by the UN General Assembly is a major milestone and achievement in the history of the Disability movement. It serves as a building block towards promotion of equality and universal access for people with disabilities throughout the world.
The convention asserts the rights to education, health, employment, adequate living conditions, freedom of movement, and equal recognition before the law for persons with disabilities.
People with disabilities now have an opportunity to influence policy and legislation leading to fair treatment on an equal basis with others. The socio-economic and political agenda of countries that are signatory to the convention is now obliged to consider issues affecting people with disabilities.
South Africa is one of the first countries to sign and ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007. As a State Party to the Convention and its Optional Protocol and with full commitment to the provisions of the Convention, South Africa has, since the coming into effect of the Convention, made significant progress.
There is now increased self-representation of persons with disabilities in parliament, provincial legislatures and in local government. Within Cabinet, we have a Deputy Minister with a disability (Public Works Deputy Minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu) and 17 members of parliament with disabilities. At the highest court in our land - the Constitutional Court - we have a Judge with a disability (Justice Zak Yacoob). Another Constitutional Court Judge with disability was Justice Albie Sachs who served this court diligently from 1994 to 2009.
People with disabilities are represented in institutions such as the Human Rights Commission, Commission on Gender Equality and National Youth Development Agency. Government departments and provinces are setting up disability policies and targets in mainstreaming service delivery to persons with disabilities.
The decision by President Jacob Zuma in 2009 to establish the Ministry and the department whose mandate is to monitor, mainstream and advocate disability rights and considerations in the public and private sector is itself a major achievement for people with disabilities in our country.
As a developmental state, South Africa has made strides in improving access to health and social services for persons with disabilities. We have a free healthcare policy for people with disabilities including the provision of assistive devices where needed. We now have the Mental Healthcare Act which introduced a human rights centred approach to the provision of care for mental health patients.
In the current financial year, South Africa is spending over R104-billion on social grants to assist the most vulnerable in the country, with the number of beneficiaries projected to grow by a million to over 16-million people. Children constitute the majority of these beneficiaries at about 10, 3-million, followed by pensioners at 2, 7 million and disability grants which is allocated to 1, 2-million people.
The disability grant is currently at R1 140 per person per month and it is adjusted every year. Welfare services are also being streamlined to reach people with disabilities wherever they are through home based care, rehabilitation and family support programmes.
Furthermore, South Africa has made commitments to improve the livelihoods of persons with disability through skills development and employment opportunities. Our target is to have at least 4% of skills development expenditure used to train people with disabilities and 2% of the workforce in the public and private sector should be people with disabilities.
We are intensifying the national efforts to meet these targets. We are currently at 0,9%; which means that we actually have to double the number of people with disabilities currently employed in order for us to achieve this target of 2% employment equity.
In line with our mandate of mainstreaming and oversight, the Department for Women, Children and People with Disabilities will ensure that each government department commits to clear milestones towards the attainment of 2% employment equity for people with disabilities. Each department or sphere of government is going to be held accountable for this target.
We are also encouraging the private sector to continue to increase the number of employees with disabilities. We have to use the skills development programmes available in the country to invest in the training of people with disabilities for employment.
Transport remains a major barrier limiting participation of people with disabilities in social, educational and economic activities. We are working together with the Department of Transport to ensure that our public transport strategy and initiatives respond to the transport needs of people with disabilities. We want to ensure that all the developments in the transport sector do integrate disability considerations.
Education is one of the five key priorities of our government and we are focusing on improving access to education for learners with disabilities through the promotion of the inclusive education policy. We are promoting integration of children with special needs into the mainstream school while acknowledging that children with severe disabilities will still need special schools.
We are also auditing the status of all special schools in the country. This audit should provide information necessary to inform appropriate interventions that have to be made to enhance the learning environment for children using these facilities.
Programme Director, we must all acknowledge that disability varies according to a complex mix of factors. These include age, gender, exposure to environmental risks, culture and availability of resources, which varies extensively across the regions of the world.
The convention requires that a universal framework for disability data collection which is related to policy goals of participation, inclusion and disability services should be adopted. This will create a better data design and also ensure that different sources of data relate well to each other.
We also emphasise the need to develop disability specific indicators for measuring the quality of life and update the accuracy of disability statistics in order to determine which services and policies are needed to advance and protect the dignity and independence of people with disabilities.
South Africa acknowledges the importance of international cooperation in support of national efforts towards the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and its Optional Protocol in order to improve the living conditions of persons with disabilities in every state, particularly in developing countries.
This cooperation must be undertaken among States, as well as in partnership with international and regional organisations including civil society and organisations of persons with disabilities. Such partnerships should promote and create equal opportunities and accessible and inclusive participation of persons with disabilities.
South Africa has acceded to, or ratified most of the African regional and international human rights instruments in the area of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights. Our constitution requires that a particular attention be given to relevant international laws and comparable international standards and experiences. Government policies on disability are progressive and in line with the constitution, which embodies the principles of social justice, dignity and equality of opportunities. This embodiment in the Constitution creates an excellent, sustainable environment for the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
To demonstrate our commitment as government and the country in protecting and promoting the rights of people with disabilities, I would like to quote the words of the icon of the struggle for freedom and the first President of a democratic South Africa, President Nelson Mandela.
When addressing a wheelchair championship in 1995, President Mandela said and I quote:
“The new South Africa we are building should be accessible and open to everyone. We must see to it that we remove the obstacles…whether they stem from poor access to facilities; poor education; lack of transport; lack of funding or unavailability of equipment. Only then will the rights of disabled to equal opportunities become a reality.” Close quote.
These words by President Mandela remain true today. While we have made progress in many areas, we certainly accept that people with disabilities still face the stiffest obstacles towards socio-economic participation than any other section of our population.
This 8th World Assembly provides us with an opportunity to discuss and share best practices in addressing these challenges. We should come out of this Assembly even more resolved to work tirelessly towards the realisation of rights of people with disabilities in all the regions of the world.
I would like to wish you a wonderful stay in this warm city of Durban and we are looking forward to the fruitful deliberations of the Assembly.
I thank you.
