Mmabatho Convention Centre North West province
17 March 2009
The Department of Social Development will be launching a policy on
disability, developed for the social development sector. It is aimed at
providing strategic guidelines in the delivery of social services that are
compliant to departmental mandates and legislation within the social
development context. It is intended to guide and inform the department on the
mainstreaming and integration of disability within social development practices
and to facilitate the transformation shifts in line with current policy
framework to promote inclusion for people with disabilities. It outlines a
broad agenda for the department to follow in addressing disability issues.
The policy espouses the mainstreaming of disability which requires strong
and consistent intersect oral collaboration and co-ordination between an array
of organisations and entities responsible for the delivery of integrated and
holistic services to people with disabilities.
The policy framework is meant to give effect to the implementation of other
key strategies and programs within the department and provides vital tools for
creating a just and equitable society. It draws from the international
instruments that the country is signatory to, for example, the United Nation
(UN) Convention on the rights of personâs with disabilities, The standards
rules on the equalisation of opportunities for persons with disabilities, to
guide strategic planning.
Service priority areas, key to the integration of people with disabilities,
have been highlighted and appropriate policy recommendations made, to enhance
development and the integration of disability within the department.
It creates and provides opportunities for all sectors to work in unison and
inter-sectorally, in the delivery of an integrated and holistic service, that
is responsive to the social needs and challenges experienced by people with
disabilities, and recognises, affirms and enhances the strengths and coping
mechanisms that they possess in their day to day living.
It is in this spirit that the department took the initiative to interface
with the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) sector, South African Disability
Alliance (SADA) and civil society to ensure that this policy is not developed
in isolation, but in consultation with the key stakeholders. The successful
implementation of this policy remains the responsibility of everybody including
other key departments, with the Department of Social Development taking the
lead towards ensuring a society fit for all.
The department would like to thank the South African Disability Alliance
(SADA) and its affiliates, and other stakeholders for their technical support
and inputs during the consultation processes involved in the development of
this policy, and DSDs managers and other officials, both at national and
provincial (DSD disability co-ordinators) departments, for their continued
support and sharing of knowledge. The department is currently costing the
policy on disability to ensure provision of appropriate resources and to enable
the department to fast track the provisioning of effective, responsive and
appropriate services to the social needs of people with disabilities, as
identified and addressed in the disability policy.
The launch will take place at the Convention centre in Mafikeng in the North
West province, and the Deputy Minister, Dr Swanson Jacobs of the Department of
Social Development will officiate at the Launch. Copies of the policy are
available at the DSD provincial offices and on the departmental website.
Issued by: Department of Social Development
17 March 2009
