Only the DA addresses the needs and challenges of South Africans living with disabilities

5 July 2016

Good morning everyone, and thank you for having me. 

It gives me great pleasure to launch the DA’s Braille and Audio versions of our Local Government Elections Manifesto here in Worcester today. And I’m proud to say that the DA is the only party making its manifesto accessible in this way.

Our Audio manifesto is available on the DA’s website. The Braille manifesto can be obtained from a number of NGOs across the country.

You will not find a stronger defender of the Constitution than the DA. Our country’s Bill of Rights is considered one of the strongest protectors of human rights in the world, and we have built the party’s manifesto around those principles. We also strongly support the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled Persons. 

I’ll unpack what that support means in practice here shortly, but firstly let me thank Kaleidoscope SA for all the work that they do for the visually impaired. Non-profit organisations like Kaleidoscope provide invaluable support to those who need it in our communities.

From school and training services, outreach and education programmes to accommodation and support, they are changing the lives of many South Africans. The DA loves working with organisations like Kaleidoscope – not only for the work they do in the community, but also for the way they help educate us on the challenges and needs of disabled South Africans. 

Government has an important role to play in ensuring the dignity of South Africans with disabilities, starting with the distribution of social grants. The DA strongly believes in a social safety net, and we feel that social grants are often insufficient and too difficult to access.

Far from cutting social grants, the DA has consistently called for social grants to be raised. We realise how difficult it is for a severely disabled person to live on a grant of R1500 per month – and frequently less – as a sole means of income.

A DA government will also improve the way this grant system works. We will ensure that recipients are warned well in advance of upcoming reviews and let them know what they should do to renew their grants. We’ll also exempt certain categories of disability from this review process.

At the DA we strive to promote access to education and job opportunities for all, including for people with disabilities. When we speak of promoting economic and social inclusion, we mean for each and every South African. With over half the five million South Africans with disabilities unemployed, government is simply not doing enough in this regard

Government should never stand in the way of employment. Where the DA governs, we work hard to remove the obstacles to running a small business. We cut unnecessary red tape and we create a stable policy environment, which makes it easier and cheaper to run a business. This also makes any initiatives to encourage the hiring of people with disabilities far more likely to succeed. 

However, we recognise that people with disabilities face many challenges beyond just economic inclusion, and we have worked hard to make all services universally accessible. 

One example of this is the way we roll out inclusive infrastructure. We provide transport subsidies to organisations in the disability sector to help people access services and support. We also promote the accessibility of buildings, public services and transport for people with disabilities.

All MyCiti buses in Cape Town and GoGeorge buses in George are wheelchair accessible and have sections specifically for people with disabilities. Cape Town is also the only municipality in the country that has a Dial-A-Ride programme – a DA initiative to provide transport for people with disabilities. Even for something as simple as a ride to the shops, the City of Cape Town has been able to help thousands of people who were unable to access other public transport. 

The DA also fights to expand healthcare for all citizens. We have introduced sight and hearing tests, as well as mental health diagnostic testing in schools. The Western Cape government is also currently piloting mobile health clinics as a partnership between the Departments of Education and Health that would bring healthcare access to a greater number of people at lower costs. We believe that the private sector can partner with public health systems to ensure the widest and most efficient coverage. 

Initiatives like these will only expand and improve over time. And as the DA’s footprint of local governments expands, we will bring these types of programmes to every municipality in South Africa.

South Africa must work for all its people, including those South Africans living with disabilities. There is only one party that can and will make this happen. Come the 3rd of August you need to go out and vote for the only party that has always put people before politics and self-interest.

For 22 years, the ANC has largely failed to improve the lives of our country’s most vulnerable citizens. It is time for change, and it is time to trust a DA government to deliver that change.

Thank you.

Issued by Mabine Seabe, Spokesperson to the DA Leader, 5 July 2016