Statement by the City’s Executive Mayor, Patricia de Lille
City honoured to assist the disabled
Note to editors: the following is an extract from a speech delivered by the
City’s Executive Mayor, Patricia de Lille, at an event at the Zolani Centre in
Nyanga to hand over wheelchairs to community members today, 16 March
2016.
Good morning, goeie môre, molweni, as-salaam alaikum, shalom.
As the Mayor of our great city, I have many important tasks.
But there is one task that I take to heart the most. I want everyone who lives in
our city to feel at home. They need to feel that they belong here, with
certainty.
People need to feel that they have the freedom to access all areas of the
city.
They need to feel that that access is granted fairly.
And we need to work towards everyone having equal access to
opportunities in their city.
When it comes to those who are physically disabled, we believe that we must
take extra special care to ensure that that sense of belonging is felt and
lived. We know that people with disabilities face serious challenges to
participate meaningfully in community activities with regard to access to
public institutions and facilities as well as employment.
As a caring city, this is something that we want and need to address. As the
local government we are the sphere of government that is closest to
communities. The services that we provide to communities can make a
significant change in the position of people with disabilities, while we redress
the imbalances of the past in communities.
This is why we believe that it is our moral and legal responsibility to engage in
an approach in all our policies, programmes and projects in a way that
ensures fairness in the treatment of persons with disabilities.
The City has implemented initiatives to raise awareness concerning disability
because we want to break down the barriers and promote greater social
integration for people with disabilities.
We do this in various ways.
Through our MyCiTi service, we are the only city to have disabled-friendly
public transport.
We top up this service with Dial-A-Ride, a public transport service for those
unable to board mainstream public transport.
We raise awareness in the communities through drama, to enhance the
understanding of disability, the rights of people with disabilities and the
importance of inclusion. Through this programme, we have reached out to
120 schools using our disability awareness play as an educational tool.
In 2015/16 we provided work skills training and placement opportunities for 50
people with disabilities for a period of five months. This year we have offered
entrepreneurship training, mentoring and a starter kit for 60 people, which
included tools for wheelchair and bicycle repair, arts and crafts, and shoe
and bag repair.
We have prioritised celebrating commemorative days for people with
disabilities and on 3 December last year more than 2 000 people with
disabilities attended our event.
Within my office, I have also disbursed 119 wheelchairs since December 2014
in an effort to provide extra assistance to those in need. By donating these
wheelchairs today, we want increase your access to opportunities.
Internally, the City of Cape Town has also aimed to lead by example. The
National Government has set the targets of 2% representation of the disabled
within the public servant workforce. Only 0,66% of the entire public service
has been classified as disabled. The City of Cape Town met the national 2%
target by the end of December 2015. Within our staff complement of 26 993,
542 employees have been classified as disabled.
We have made sure that the City of Cape Town’s job seeker application
process is accessible to all job seekers, including those with disabilities. The
City also has a dedicated database for people with disabilities and all
vacancies are matched to this database in the first instance.
This intervention has paid off and the success is evident in the number of
people with disabilities appointed within the City.
Our programmes recognise the various challenges experienced by people
with disabilities. We know that in order for the city to reach its full potential,
each and every resident has a role to play.
I know that this donation today will make the desired impact, and I look
forward to the progress that we will make possible together as well.
I thank you.
God bless.