COUNTRY PRESANTATION
By: Looks Matoto: Deputy Chair Human
Rights, Disabled People South Africa (DPSA)

 , “For centuries, people with disabilities have been ... isolated, incarcerated, observed, written about, operated on, instructed, implanted, regulated, treated, institutionalised and controlled to a degree probably unequal to that experienced by any other minority group.” (Davis 1997)

Situational analysis
 1. The 1994 elections heralded a new era for South African society built on the principles of non-discrimination, democracy and equality for all, including disabled people. The
African National Congress (ANC), while preparing to govern, held extensive consultations with the
Disability Rights Movement

Situational analysis continue…
 represented by Disabled People South
Africa (DPSA), to determine how the incoming government should approach protection and promotion of the rights of disabled people.
Consensus was reached that the principle of self-representation of disabled people in all matters affecting their lives,

Cont.
 as well as mainstreaming disability across government machinery, was non-negotiable. This consensus translated into, among other things:
 The establishment of the Disability
Programme within the former
Reconstruction and Development
Programme (RDP) in the Presidency in 1995,

Cont.
 evolving into the Office on the Status of Disabled Persons (OSDP) established in the Presidency in 1997, and eventually into the Department of Women, Children and People with
Disabilities, established in 2009;

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 self-representation by disabled persons in Parliament, provincial legislatures, municipal councils, human rights instruments such as the
SA Human Rights Commission
(SAHRC), the Commission on Gender
Equality,

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 the Public Service Commission, as well as development agencies such as the former National Youth
Commission, later restructured into the National Youth Development
Agency, as well as the Office on the
Status of Disabled Persons established in the Presidency and in the majority of provinces; and

Cont.
 South Africa as such became a leading force in the campaign for, and eventual development of the UN
Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities (CRPD) which, in its final format, embodies the principles of the South African process set in motion in 1994

Cont.
 to advance the progressive realisation of the rights of disabled persons as equal citizens. Implementation of the
CRPD in South Africa therefore actually commenced in 1994 and not in 2007, when the Convention was officially ratified by South Africa, or in
May 2008, when it came into force.

Cont.
 As a result of self representation,
Some disabled people enjoy high status and high visibility in South
Africa. There are, for example, a number of disabled Members of
Parliament and the most prominent among these is the current, Deputy
Minister of Women, Children and
Persons with Disabilities, the Hon.
Hendrietta

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 Bogopane-Zulu, who was formerly the Deputy Minister of Public Works.
 The most recent appointment of the hounarable MICHAEL MASUTHA also an activist of note, for the rights of disabled People, under the umbrella of DPSA, as Deputy Minister of
Science and Technology,

Cont.
 indicates the strong resolve by the president of South Africa to recognize that disabled people can add value in society, only if they are given space and opportunity to play their role without hindrance.

 We have been able to grow selfrepresentation by disabled activists in our national, provincial and local legislatures from 1 national representative in 1994 to 16
Members of Parliament, 8 Members of the Provincial Legislatures and 72 councillors who are disabled.

Cont.
 Despite the few mentioned above, disabled people remain poverty stricken.
 Employment is a major challenge

 It is important to mention that, we are delighted by the leadership shown by the Ministry of Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities in this regard. Their current figure of 5.5% is a beacon of hope.

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 The interrelatedness of disability and poverty is articulated in South Africa’s
National Development Plan (NDP) adopted in 2012, which states that:

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 “Disability and poverty operate in a vicious circle. Disability often leads to poverty and poverty, in turn, often results in disability. People with disabilities face multiple discriminatory barriers. Disability must be integrated into all facets of planning, recognising that there is no one-size-fits-all approach.”

Normative framework and implementation
 Emphasis fell more on popularising the Convention across government and civil society, without this process merging into a co-ordinated domestication programme of action with clear targets.

Cont.
 Priority areas for implementation of the CRPD for the period 2009-2014 were as incorporated into the national priorities of Government i.e. education, employment, health, safety and security as well as, to a lesser extent, rural development.

Normative framework and implementation continue…
 The interpretation of, among others, equality and non-discrimination as well as reasonable accommodation has been tested in a number of legal actions, and examples are discussed here below

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 The Constitutional Court determined in Prinsloo v Van der Linde & Another
1997(3) that human dignity constitutes a criterion to determine unfair discrimination.

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 The Court endorsed the view that “at the heart of the prohibition of unfair discrimination lies a recognition that the purpose of our new constitutional and democratic order is the establishment of a society in which all human beings will be accorded equal dignity and respect regardless of their membership of particular groups.”

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 The importance of human dignity was also emphasised in W H Bosch v The
Minister of Safety and Security &
Minister of Public Works, Case no.
25/2005 (9) when the Equality Court in Port Elizabeth held that “there is no price that can be attached to dignity.

Cont.
 There is no justification for the violation or potential violation of the disabled person’s right to equality and maintenance of his dignity that was tendered or averred by the respondent…the Court therefore found the discrimination to have been unfair.”

Cont.
 The Promotion of Equality and
Prevention of Unfair Discrimination
Act, 2000, stipulates that all high courts are equality courts.

 Designation of magisterial courts as equality courts by the Minister of
Justice and Constitutional
Development takes place only once presiding officers and staff for such courts have received appropriate training. There are currently 386 equality courts in South Africa.

 Equality Courts should in principle provide easy access to persons who believe they have been discriminated against, on among other things, the basis of disability

 It is important to note that a complainant only needs to make out a prima facie case of discrimination after which the burden of proof shifts to the respondent, who must prove that such discrimination did not take place or, if it did, that it was not unfair.

 It is recognised that there is a persistent disjuncture between the theoretical framework and the lack of effective implementation of such rights. So while disabled persons are, in principle, able to harness the law to protect and pursue interests on an equal basis with others,

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 a number of obstacles, including persistent harmful traditional beliefs, ingrained stigmatisation and consequent discrimination on the one hand, and the interrelatedness of disability and poverty on the other, the inability to afford legal fees,

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 lack of information in the use of equality courts, accessibility of equality courts, communication barriers, lack of a disability-sensitive judiciary and court staff, inaccessible buildings and transport, detract from the equality provided for in law.

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 The court process as such has generally remained under-utilised, which can be seen in the dearth of disability-related legal judgments produced annually.

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 The South African Human Rights
Commission (SAHRC) has a constitutional mandate as an independent body to promote, protect and monitor the rights of all South
Africans.

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 It is, however, acknowledged that capacity challenges within the commission cause significant delays in the effective investigation and finalisation of complaints.

Role of the government and policy mainstreaming
 The South African Government remains committed to implementing the outcomes of relevant UN conferences, summits and reviews.

Cont.
 South Africa participated in the first five Conferences of States Parties to the CRPD. Participation in the conferences received high-level support and was led by the respective ministers and/or deputy ministers of
Women, Children and People with
Disabilities in 2008, 2009, 2010,
2011 and 2012.

Cont.
 Awareness campaigns peak during
Disability Rights Awareness Month, which is launched on 3 November every year and culminating in the commemoration of the International
Day of Persons with Disabilities on
December 3.

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 All organs of the State participate in the Disability Rights Awareness Month programme in collaboration with organisations of and for disabled persons.

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 The W H Bosch court judgment in
2005, which directed that all police stations be made accessible, and the
Esthe Muller out-of-court settlement of 2004 which focused on accessibility of court buildings, resulted in the creation of a dedicated programme within the Department of Public
Works

Cont.
 to renovate existing public service buildings. The SAHRC was directed to monitor the accessibility of courts following the out-of-court settlement.

 South Africa prides itself on the partnership between the Reserve
Bank, responsible for producing banknotes and coins, and organisations of disabled persons, which has ensured that South African money can be identified by people with visual as well as intellectual disabilities through a range of specially-designed features

the dominant model of inclusion
 Rights-based
 The impact of this model has already been illustrated in my previous slides, but it is safe to say, there are various systems in place, to assist with the employment of disabled people, but implementation is still a challenge.

Recommendations
 The biggest challenge in any society, were a particular sector of society is oppressed, it is the very sector that is oppressed.
 Disabled people are not angry enough to be vigorous in their fight against injustice
 Disabled people still have low self regard.

 We are not assertive enough and still have this mentality of separate approach to challenges, Blind people fighting in their own little corner, deaf people also, etc.

 There are no strong monitoring , evaluation and enforcement tools, so these need to be developed.
 Identify needs and activities to strengthen capacities in data collection and disability data management.
 Obtain progress reports, analyse data and produce reports.

 Evaluate reports to determine the impact of programs aimed at empowering disabled people.
 Ensure that the performance appraisal of HODs is linked to disability
 Determining activities to establish baselines and track progress.
 Identify research activities for addressing critical knowledge gaps

Why is it necessary to do
Monitoring and Evaluation?
 It helps with Accountability purposes.
 Provides an early warning system
 Provide a mechanism to respond speedily to problems as they arise.
 To improve the performance of government systems and quality of outputs

 In conclusion
 What we need is leaders with a heart, we need to go back to the basics, let
Ubuntu be the foundation of our governments.
 Attitudes are the biggest barrier, we need to change attitudes. Here is a story I want to relate

A disabled mother pushed

Going shopping

Only form of mobility, for ten years looking for a wheel chair.

Trapped to poverty

Negotiating for a wheelchair

Dignity granted

Tears of joy

Sweet feeling

Last payment for indignity

Free at last!

No one to rip off now

Thank You