BuaNews (Tshwane)
Gabi Khumalo
2 December 2008
Pretoria — South Africa will join the rest of the world on Wednesday to observe the International Day of Disabled persons to promote the understanding of disability issues and mobilise support for the full integration of persons with disabilities into society.
The annual event is celebrated on 3 December as proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in resolution 47/13 of October 1992.
The Assembly appealed to member states to use this day to reflect on issues experienced by persons with disabilities, so as to advance the equalisation of opportunities for this constituency.
The international theme for the 2008 International Day of Disabled Persons is "Justice and Dignity for all".
The theme has been adopted and added to the South African theme: "Business Unusual all hands on deck to speed up change for people with disabilities."
In celebrating the day, government departments will take part in various activities raising awareness and challenges facing people living with disability.
In KwaZulu-Natal, Premier Sibusiso Ndebele will deliver the keynote address at the provincial commemoration of the day to be held at KwaKhoza Sports Field in Nseleni, uMhlatuze.
Thousands of people including MECs, disabled persons, representatives from the disability sector, members of the provincial legislature, mayors, councillors, government officials, traditional leaders and representatives of civil society are expected to attend the event.
The City of Cape Town will also commemorate the day and the success of its door-to-door public transport service for special needs passengers.
The Dial-a-Ride public transport service, which is subsidised by the city, and provincial and national governments was introduced in 2002 to accommodate public transport mobility needs for people with disabilities.
Since its inception the service has been upgraded and now consists of nine sedan vehicles including four panel vans and 13 Quantum taxis which operate seven days a week between 6am to 7pm.
City's Transport Director Maddie Mazaza said the Dial-a-Ride service forms part of the city's commitment to provide efficient, safe and reliable transport to residents unable to make use of other forms of public transport.
Observing the day ahead of the International Disability Day, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in Mafikeng handed over computers, as part of the Desktop Renewal Project, to the Tlamelang Special School during Departmental Disability Day.
Department's Regional Head Tsietsi Malema said the objective of the day was to continue raising awareness and place sharper focus on and identify challenges and opportunities for persons with disabilities and also to continue partnership between the department and Provincial Disability Forum.
"People living with disability have the same rights as the so called able people, these rights are entrenched in the constitution and people must know that labelling people with birth defects is a breach of our Constitution.
"We need to treat these people as equal and afford them all other opportunities and benefits that are enjoyed by other South Africans," Mr Malema said on Tuesday.
He said the department will also be taking learners from the Tlamelang Special School to regional courts to showcase court operations.
"We have trained language interpreters and sign language interpreters to make sure that the disabled persons have access to fair judicial proceedings in our courts," he said.
The African Union declared the first decade (1999-2009) of the new millennium as the African Decade for Persons with Disabilities, the AU ministers have since extended the declaration to December 2019.
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