July 18, 2003

By Nangamso Mabindla

The Gauteng Provincial Government yesterday launched its strategy to ensure protection and empowerment for people with disabilities.

One of the challenges that had to be dealt with as a matter of urgency was the practice of discriminating against people on the basis of ability or lack of it, Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa said in his address at the launch in Turffontein, Johannesburg.

"We are launching our policy framework to send a clear message to all the people of Gauteng that people with disabilities have equal rights which should be respected by all," he said.

The disability policy covered five key areas:

• Preventing disabilities from occurring, such as improving road safety, providing immunisation programmes, and presenting education programmes on safety issues.
• Not discriminating against people with disabilities.
• Identifying and correcting aspects and attitudes in society that render people disabled, including the repairing of pavements and removing barriers preventing people from entering buildings.
• Mainstreaming people with disabilities.
• Caring for people with disabilities, particularly those that are severely disabled "until such time as society has overcome the prejudice and all barriers have been removed so that people with disabilities can participate in the same way as everybody else".

While there was no international convention on disability, the United Nations had in 1994 adopted a set of rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities.

Shilowa outlined some of the achievements of the Gauteng government regarding its efforts to eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities.

"Within our schools we run educational programmes to highlight prevention measures and to generate a positive attitude towards people with disabilities," he said. These programmes included sensitisation workshops and teacher training.

There were many programmes run by the Gauteng Department of Health to reduce disabling conditions, including immunisation, cataract removal, and early screening and detection of disabilities among children. Since 1999 the province had carried out cataract operations on 27 053 people, while more than 100 corneal transplants had be performed.

The premier pointed out that 90% of the province's health facilities were accessible to people who were physically disabled, and from April this year all health care services were free for people on disability grants.

There were, as at December 2002, 70 000 people receiving disability grants, with a further 5 000 people getting care dependency grants for children with severe disabilities.

Shilowa added that the department in the last decade had provided 6 020 wheelchairs, buggies, hearing aids and walking aids. "We are the first province to provide two mouth-operated wheelchairs to two disabled people in the townships," he said.

The Gauteng government had also set aside R3.5-million for the implementation of the new Mental Health Act, "to ensure that people with mental illness receive the care and treatment they need in a conducive environment". Since 1995 the province had spent a total of R441-million on mental health care services.

Shilowa urged private sector employers "to put in place recruitment processes that enable them to reach out to all sectors of the labour market".

The premier urged everyone to "overcome attitudinal barriers and appreciate the strengths that people with disabilities have as individuals, rather than their limitations".

"Together we can change the attitudes of our society, restore the dignity and respect the rights of people with disabilities," Shilowa said.

- Johannesburg News Agency