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A wide-ranging policy seeks to improve the lives of people with disabilities, focusing on stopping discrimination and promoting inclusion.
A NEW policy has been adopted by the City of Johannesburg that will help improve the quality of life of people with disabilities.
According to Nero Maseko, the manager of the City's disabilities unit, the policy will give a renewed impetus to eliminating discrimination on the basis of disability, and promote inclusion. It was adopted on 7 May this year.
"The main purpose is to ensure that people with disabilities ... are able to access council services that are available to the rest of the citizens and that opportunities are made for everyone," Maseko said.
Drawn up through collaboration between the council, a wide range of community groups and other stakeholders, the policy includes guidelines on service delivery for people with disabilities.
Institutional structures will be set up so that City departments and organisations for people with disabilities will be able to monitor and evaluate the policy.
The policy aims to assist people with disabilities to live independent lives
Allowing people with disabilities to live independent lives made economic sense, Maseko pointed out. "We believe that people with disabilities can take an active role as contributors to the growth of our national economy and to the welfare and diversity of our societies."
People with disabilities faced daily barriers, from physical obstacles in buildings to systemic barriers in employment and civic programmes. "Yet often, the most difficult barriers to overcome are attitudes from other people regarding people with disabilities. The most pervasive negative attitude is focusing on a person's disability rather on individual abilities."
Regarding applying the policy, Maseko noted that some council facilities had installed ramps, handrails and sound in lifts for people with various disabilities. However, there was a lack of awareness programmes focusing on the education of people with disabilities, as well as on curbing negative social mindsets.
"The majority of people with disabilities are illiterate because of difficulty in accessing public schools and financial support for them to access specialised schools." And matric age restriction compelled learners with disabilities to leave school earlier, as most of them started school late because of their disabilities, he said.
Although South Africa has in place some of the world's most comprehensive legislation and policies protecting the rights of people with disabilities, research by Samaita Maita Development Services in 2005 found that these policies had a marginal effect on the daily lives of the majority of people with disabilities.
Inadequate budgetary allocations, inexperience of the public servants charged with implementing these policies, and procedural bottlenecks were identified as some of the main causes of "policy evaporation".
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