T Makwetla: Premier's Disability Achiever Awards

26 March 2009

Programme directors
Members of the Executive Council
Executive Mayors of Steve Tshwete Municipality and Nkangala District
Municipality, Clr MT Mahlangu and Clr SK Mashilo, respectively
Acting Director-General (DG), Mr JS Mgidi
Representatives of the Disabled People's Organisations
The disability sector
Nominees and finalists of the Premier's Disability Achiever Awards
Senior managers and officials in the public service
Ladies and gentlemen

The Premier's Disability Achiever Awards is an important occasion to
recognise and honour outstanding individuals and institutions for their
contribution to the development and empowerment of persons with
disabilities.

In many ways, all the nominees of the Disability Achiever Awards today have
made significant contributions towards addressing the plight of persons with
disabilities in our communities. They have championed initiatives that raise
awareness and encourage positive social attitudes towards children, youth,
women and adults with disabilities, and ensured that persons with disabilities
have access to government services such as identity documents, disability
grants and assistive devices.

Through these awards, we celebrate the resilient spirit of persons with
disabilities who have overcome the constraints of their own disabilities to
reach out and assist persons with disabilities in their own communities. We
honour organisations and professionals who have worked tirelessly to ensure
that persons with disabilities enjoy fundamental human rights to which they are
entitled as equal human beings and citizens of our country.

Ladies and gentleman, over the last decade, we have seen heightened global
commitment to the advancement and development of persons with disabilities in
order to ensure their full and equal participation in social, cultural and
economic development of society. The 1999 African Decade and plan of action for
persons with disabilities and the proclamation on the full participation,
equality and empowerment of people with disabilities in Africa were critical
and necessary instruments to galvanise African governments to create equal
opportunities for persons with disabilities, protect their fundamental human
rights, and foster their integration into the mainstream of society.

Equally, the entry into force of the United Nations Convention on the Rights
of persons with disabilities and its option protocol last year signalled the
importance of mainstreaming disability issues as an integral part of relevant
strategies of sustainable development. This is a significant global commitment
to enabling persons with disabilities to fully enjoy all human rights and
fundamental freedoms. As a nation, we have committed ourselves to ensuring that
we place the issues of persons with disabilities on the national development
agenda.

Despite advances in many areas of our development endeavours, persons with
disabilities continue to be subjected to artificial barriers and challenges
that restrict their equal participation and full enjoyment of rights and
fundamental freedoms without discrimination. I have no doubt that the
individuals and organisations we are honouring today exemplify outstanding
commitment towards removing barriers to which persons with disabilities are
unnecessarily subjected.

As a province, we should continue to implement appropriate measures to
ensure that persons with disabilities have easy access to the physical
environment, transportation infrastructure, housing, medical facilities as well
as information and communication technologies. We should continue to create a
physical environment conducive to the mobility and participation of persons
with disabilities. Our workplaces should comply with access and mobility needs
of persons with disabilities.

We should strengthen our efforts to facilitate access to public services by
persons with disabilities. As government, we need to present information in
formats accessible to persons with disabilities. A practical case in point we
need to reflect on is 'how this Thusong Centre we are using today is able to
cater for persons with disabilities with respect to government information and
services'. It is crucial to ensure that information on services, communication,
speeches, and documents are made available in Braille materials so that blind
and partially sighted people who can read Braille can access the information
easily. Essentially, we need to provide quality mobility aids and assistive
devices that enhance mobility and the ability of persons with disabilities to
live independently.

As a province, we have made significant progress in reducing the backlog of
assistive devices that persons with disabilities need for their mobility
independence. In the last financial year, the Department of Health (DoH) issued
1 050 manual wheelchairs, 46 power wheelchairs and 800 pairs of hearing aids.
On average, the waiting time for these assistive devices has been reduced to
less than five weeks, lower than the national norm.

The province is in partnership with Disabled People South Africa and the
Mpumalanga branch of the South African National Council for the Blind (SANCB)
to implement community based rehabilitation projects. Through these projects,
35 people with disabilities were employed to work as field workers and peer
counsellors in all the municipalities. Six youth were employed as mobility
orientation and independence practitioners for the training of the visually
impaired persons. Through these community-based rehabilitation projects, we
have identified and referred 20 656 persons with disabilities to various
government agencies, so that they access services they require. 605 persons
with visual disabilities were identified and trained in mobility and
independence skills.

Ladies and gentlemen, illiteracy among persons with disabilities in
developing countries has, over the years, been a consequence of systemic
exclusion from access to educational opportunities. This has restricted
opportunities for persons with disabilities to access economic development
opportunities.

Among many inspirational stories today, we celebrate the story of learners
with disabilities who have demonstrated extraordinary capabilities and success
in their studies despite their disabilities. This is inspiration to humanity to
believe in the potential of every individual to succeed irrespective of their
disability.

As a province, we want to ensure that persons with disabilities are able to
access education at early stages of their development. The implementation of
inclusive education in Mpumalanga is currently underway. We are committed to
enhancing the capacities of our schools to cater for the specific needs of
learners with mental, intellectual, physical and sensory disabilities.

Critically, the availability of suitably qualified educators to implement
the curriculum that meets the needs of persons with disabilities requires of us
to invest in the development of educators to enhance the quality if curriculum
delivery to learners with disabilities. We should make resource centres
available to support learning and development through the provision of
appropriate learning infrastructure such as assistive devices and learning
material presented in accessible formats.

As we address poverty and unemployment challenges, we must continue to
equalise access to employment and business development opportunities for
persons with disabilities in all the sectors of our economy. In this regard, we
have prioritised the mainstreaming of disability issues into government
programmes.

Our Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) continues to benefit persons with
disabilities in accessing employment and skills development opportunities. We
are providing opportunities for persons with disabilities to participate so
that they acquire skills necessary to facilitate their absorption into the
labour market. Despite progress we have made in creating opportunities for
persons with disabilities to earn income, we are concerned about the inability
of government departments and municipalities to meet stipulated employment
equity targets with respect to persons with disabilities.

As government, we are committed to strengthening partnerships with the
private sector to support initiatives such as establishment of resource centres
for the disabled persons, the provision of on-the-job skills development and
placement programmes which expose disabled persons to the work environment so
that they acquire requisite skills for taking up employment.

Persons with disabilities should be supported to be actively involved in the
mainstream economy so that they contribute to the growth and prosperity of the
province. Among many achievements that we are honouring today, the
inspirational story of Jeremia Shabangu and the Vulamehlo Disabled Group from
Nkomazi who manage a sugar cane farm and contribute to the fight against
poverty should be emulated by many disabled persons in our communities.
Shabangu's entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to community service and
empowerment should serve to inspire the disability sector and society in
general to embrace the spirit of 'Vuk'uzenzele' (self-help/self-empowerment).
Let everyone embrace the spirit of self-empowerment as we continue to build
this great South African Nation.

Programme directors, allow me conclude by saying that, our progress as
society in creating a caring and humane society must be measured by, among
other things, the creation of the social environment that guarantees and
promotes the full enjoyment of human rights by persons with disabilities.

Congratulations to all the nominees and finalists for the Premier's
Disability Achiever Awards. You have all made the province proud.

I would also like to convey our gratitude to our sponsors, Buscor Limited,
Absa Bank, and TSB for having contributed to making today's occasion a success.
As our social partners, we appreciate your continued support of the Premier's
Disability Achiever Awards.

Thank you.

Issued by: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
26 March 2009