Pretoria - Reducing inequality and eradicating poverty among persons with disabilities must become everybody’s business, says Social Development Deputy Minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu.
“It cannot be the responsibility of only state parties, a few government departments, or disabled peoples organisations, families and or communities but it is the responsibility of everyone,” Deputy Minister Bogopane-Zulu said.
Addressing the 8th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) held in New York, Deputy Minister Bogopane-Zulu highlighted that children, including young persons, adults and older persons with disabilities are equal citizens with equal rights in a democratic South African society.
The Deputy Minister also shared some of the comprehensive social security measures South Africa has taken on the road to eradicating poverty and promoting equality of outcome.
Some of the measures taken include:
- Indigent citizens and residents have access to subsidised state housing, either ownership or rental, and persons with disabilities have access to a differentiated top-up subsidy relating to their reasonable accommodation requirements;
- All children with disabilities under the age of six have access to free health care, including rehabilitation and assistive devices;
- A cash transfer constituting of a disability grant for both adults and children, as well as a care dependency grants for caregivers taking care of persons with profound disabilities is paid out monthly;
- Persons with disabilities have access to subsidised public transport in the main centres where public transport systems are available;
- Indigent students with disabilities at post school education and training institutions have access to an extensive array of reasonable accommodation support grants, including assistive devices and technologies and personal assistance, to ensure that they participate optimally in student life; and
- South Africa applies affirmative action for persons with disabilities in employment and skills development. Job-seekers and employees with disabilities are therefore protected from discrimination when seeking employment, and can access reasonable accommodation support with protection by law.
“These are but a few examples of measures taken to reduce inequality and eradicate poverty. We acknowledge that this is only a beginning.
“We also acknowledge that more work needs to be done to support the empowerment of persons with disabilities in knowing their rights, the benefits they are entitled to, and accessing recourse where these are not available,” the Deputy Minister said.
National Disability Rights Policy
Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister announced that Cabinet is expected to approve the National Disability Rights Policy in the next two months.
The National Disability Rights Policy will give effect to the right to equality, dignity and self-reliance; strengthen of governance and administrative systems; provide the platform for the review of existing and development of new legislation; and also strengthen accountability and enforcement of these rights.
“This constitutes a major step in the process of domesticating the CRPD, and will be followed by the development of legislation.”
This year's three-day conference, which started on 9 June, was held under the theme "Mainstreaming the rights of persons with disabilities in the post-2015 development agenda". – SAnews.gov.za
