1.    Background and Introduction

On behalf of the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, I wish to thank each of you for joining us in celebrating the launch of the 2024 Disability Rights Awareness Month (DRAM), which runs from 3rd November to 3rd December. This year’s DRAM is under the theme “Celebrating 30 Years of Democracy: Creating a Disability-Inclusive Society for a Better Quality of Life and Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.” The month culminates on 3rd December, celebrated globally as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD). On this significant day, I will present a Ministerial Statement on Disability Rights Awareness Month in the National Assembly of Parliament, highlighting the progress and ongoing commitment to creating an inclusive society for persons with disabilities.

From the outset, I would really like to thank our host, the Johannesburg Council for the Disabled, for the incredible work you have been dedicated to since 1995. Your commitment to providing a holistic, essential, and value-added approach to transform and uplift the social, economic, and professional lives of persons with disabilities has been exemplary. I was truly inspired when I was briefed on the range of services you provide, from social work and skills development to learnerships and enterprise development.

We draw direct inspiration from the incredible amount of concrete measures that your institution has undertaken to champion the social, economic, spatial, and technological advancement of persons with disabilities. I am deeply moved by the extent to which you have elevated the participation of persons with disabilities in key income-generating economic activities such as wheelchair repair, catering, sewing, farming, and detergent manufacturing, among others. We witnessed this level of commitment to economic empowerment during Italy’s G7 Forum on Disability and Inclusion, and we are especially pleased to see it here at home. I would therefore like to commit that our engagement will not end here today. I am committed to a continued collaboration with your institution that goes beyond Disability Rights Awareness Month.

I am certain that, working together, we will be able to take inclusion, self- representation, accessibility, and the empowerment of this community from theory to practice, and to greater heights.

2.    Key objectives of DRAM 2024

The key objectives of DRAM 2024 are:

To unite South Africans with and without disabilities—including children, women, youth, men, and gender non-conforming persons—in pursuit of the goal of building a disability-inclusive, barrier-free South Africa, where persons with disabilities can actively contribute to the development of their communities.

To mobilize an active and patriotic citizenry and forge sustainable social compacts that rejuvenate our society’s efforts to promote a national identity that celebrates cultural diversity, inclusive of persons with disabilities.

To inspire hope and confidence in the ability of the South African government, working in partnership with civil society, to address the common challenges facing persons with disabilities and society as a whole.

To advocate for the accelerated implementation of the White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

To communicate disability inclusion commitments contained in the 2024-2029 Medium Term Development Plan as well as national and provincial programmes of action.

To monitor and evaluate the state of disability inclusion across all government departments, provinces, municipalities, and entities, ensuring that disability mainstreaming becomes a permanent component of policies, programs, and infrastructures—not only during Disability Rights Awareness Month, but year-round.

3.    Progress on the realisiation of rights of persons with disabilities

The United Nations has issued three documents dealing with the concerns of people with disabilities. These are:

 United Nations Standard Rules for the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, 

 the World Program of Action Concerning Disabled Persons, and

 the    United    Nations    Convention    on    the    Rights    of    Persons    with Disabilities.

All these documents call for extensive changes in the environment to accommodate the diverse needs of persons with disabilities in society. The emphasis is on a fundamental shift in how we view persons with disabilities, moving away from an individual medical perspective to one focused on human rights and the development of persons with disabilities.

As a government, we endorse these principles. The White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities reflects our government’s vision for what must be done—now and in the future—to advance the rights and development of this community. We believe in a partnership with persons with disabilities.

As we launch Disability Rights Awareness Month, we are called to reflect on the status of persons with disabilities globally, across the continent, and within our own borders.

This reflection is essential to evaluate where we have been, where we are, where we still need to go, and how we should measure progress in advancing the rights of persons with disabilities. The answers to these questions are crucial for the inclusive formulation of policies and legislative instruments, as well as for the co-design of our priorities and interventions.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that persons with disabilities make up 16% of the world's population. In other words, 1 in 6 people globally has a disability. The community we are gathered to celebrate today represents about 1.3 billion people in all their diversity, with roughly 80% residing in the Global South.

In our country, around 3.3 million individuals have been identified as persons with disabilities. However, this number does not include those under the age of 4 or those who are institutionalised. Old age is increasingly linked to experiences of disability. As people age, some degree of difficulty arises in areas such as seeing, hearing, communicating, remembering, and self-care.

We are, therefore, recognising and celebrating a community that has always been, and continues to be, an integral part of the human experience. With this understanding, as a department, we have elevated the principle of self- representation and the mantra “nothing about us, without us” not merely as one of our advocacy points but as a central tenet in everything we do.

4.    Achievements in disability inclusion

Over the past 30 years, numerous policies, legislative instruments, and government programs have earned our country recognition as a respected champion of the global disability inclusion movement.

This was evident during the recent G7 Forum on Disability and Inclusion held in Italy.

Disability inclusion is not merely a matter of advocacy; it is a constitutional imperative enshrined in our Bill of Rights.

Over the past 30 years, we have embedded disability inclusion into various laws that comprise the country's legislative framework. These include (a) the recently gazetted Framework on Self-Representation, which has implications for the composition of Boards of State-Owned Enterprises; (b) the National Strategic Framework on Reasonable Accommodation; and (c) the Universal Access and Design Framework, with norms and standards for universal accessibility in the built environment.

In education, all persons with disabilities have access to free basic education and any young person coming from a home with an income bracket of R600 000 receives free higher education through our National Student Financial Aid Scheme.

In social security, persons with disabilities receive a monthly direct cash transfer to support their basic needs.

South African Sign Language is now recognized as the 12th official language in South Africa.

More recently, the President signed the Public Procurement Act, which mandates that a portion of government procurement be sourced from businesses owned and controlled by persons with disabilities. During the Medium Policy Budget Statement, the Minister of Finance revealed that “Public procurement accounts for about 19% of consolidated government spending, totalling R1.5 trillion over the next three years.”

As a department that represents the interests and well-being of this community, we will ensure that as the Treasury develops the regulations, priority is given to the work of institutions like the Johannesburg Council for the Disabled and others who are engaged in facilitating income-earning and productive opportunities for the community of persons with disabilities.

In fact, at a recent Women’s Economic Assembly Webinar, I requested WECONA to assemble a team of experts to examine the entire government procurement system to ensure that 40% of the R1.5 trillion is directed toward businesses not only owned by women but also creating economic opportunities for youth and persons with disabilities. I believe we need representatives of persons with disabilities on that team of experts.

5.    The challenges that continue to undermine the prospects and future well-being of persons with disabilities

Despite progress at global and local levels, conditions for persons with disabilities worldwide remain far from ideal. The United Nations’ World Report on Disability highlights numerous factors that leave people with disabilities without equal access to healthcare, education, employment, and disability-related services.

Structurally, stigma against persons with disabilities persists in ways that impact both their physical and mental health. Around the world, many laws and policies still permit harmful practices in the health sector, such as forced sterilisation, involuntary admission and treatment, and institutionalisation.

Exclusion from education and employment, and poor living conditions increase the risk of poor health and unmet healthcare needs among persons with disabilities.

Persons with disabilities are twice as likely to develop conditions such as depression, asthma, diabetes, and stroke and remain more vulnerable to non-communicable diseases. A major reason for this is that they are often left out of public health interventions, from planning to implementation.

The lack of awareness, negative attitudes, and discriminatory practices among some healthcare workers—along with inaccessible health facilities and information—all contribute to inequality and barriers to public health access.

Regarding mobility, the report highlights that persons with disabilities experience inaccessible and unaffordable transportation challenges 15 times more frequently than those without disabilities.

Last Friday, I joined President Ramaphosa at the Presidential Imbizo in Umgababa, KwaZulu-Natal. Among the voices from the floor, a gentleman who uses a wheelchair explained that each time he takes a taxi, he is charged extra to accommodate his wheelchair. This is not only an added financial burden but a reminder of the need to engage with sectors like transport to build inclusive systems that eliminate these barriers and foster truly inclusive communities.

6.    Key priorities and interventions going forward

One of our key priorities is to apply to UNESCO for a Research Chair on Disability and Inclusion. This research chair will enable us to establish transformative regional and transnational knowledge networks that will serve as vital hubs for creating disability-inclusive climate coalitions, alliances, and solutions. Through a co-design process, we aim to generate, prototype, and share examples of community-based interventions that advance justice for persons with disabilities.

We will also prioritise efforts to leverage the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Emerging Digital Technologies in improving the wellbeing and prospects of persons with disabilities. I recently visited the CSIR where I interacted with scientists who are working on various speech- to-text and text-to-speech technology that incorporates African languages. Again on Friday at the Presidential Imbizo, citizens raised the concern on the lack of inclusive education in the country.

Allow me to share that we have conceptualised a project, working with the Department of Basic Education, that will profile the State of Special Schools across South Africa and the educational journeys of Youth with Disabilities. This is part of a major project we have in mind to pair every special school with a State-Owned Company that will dedicate sections of their social investment budget to support teaching and learning, assistive devices, and the school’s infrastructure needs.

Finally, the world will soon descend on South Africa as we assume the G20 Presidency later this year. Throughout our calendar of events, Disability Inclusion will not just be one of the things we do, it will be at the centre of everything we do.

In fact, we have already started lobbying for the establishment of a G20 Disability Inclusion Forum at Ministerial Level, which is something that was raised by all G7 countries and others when we were at the G7 Disability Inclusion Ministerial Meeting. This demonstrates a growing global movement to elevate disability issues to the highest decision-making forums, positioning South Africa as a leader on this front.

7.    Embracing government-wide efforts in advancing disability rights

When we presented our plans for Disability Rights Awareness Month to Cabinet, chaired by the President, we emphasized one clear goal: that we would leave no stone unturned.

Every single government department, province, municipality, state entity and even private sector must be found active and committed during this month. We have called on all sectors of government and civil society to ensure that Disability Rights Awareness Month is marked by visible, impactful actions that contribute to a more inclusive South Africa. However, our commitment must not end with this month. We expect each department to conduct a thorough audit of their mainstreaming of persons with disabilities, ensuring that disability inclusion is embedded in their policies and practices year-round.

In this month, guided by the weekly themes on: 1) economic empowerment, 2) inclusion of children, 3) a progressive government, and 4) safer communities, we have already witnessed powerful examples of this commitment. On 3rd November, the Department of Small Business Development hosted the Disability Business Indaba Awards, celebrating businesses led by persons with disabilities and showcasing how inclusive entrepreneurship can transform lives and communities.

On 4th November, the Department of Social Development launched their Disability Rights Awareness Week in Cape Town, where they engaged public hearing reports on the Draft Policy on Social Development Services for Persons with Disabilities. This event marked a significant step in centering the voices and rights of persons with disabilities in social policy.

Other departments still have programs underway. For example, the Department of Transport has initiated virtual sessions focused on promoting inclusive infrastructure, ensuring that public transport systems are accessible to persons with disabilities.

The Department of Labour is actively educating its workforce on disability etiquette and promoting disability disclosure in the workplace, fostering a supportive environment for all employees.

The Department of Public Service and Administration will host sensitization workshops and disability management sessions for its staff, while the Department of Water and Sanitation is conducting reasonable accommodation inspections to ensure accessible working environments.

Additionally, the National Prosecuting Authority is running campaigns to inform disabled child witnesses and their families about resources within the justice system, offering essential support for one of the most vulnerable groups in our society.

These examples reflect a government-wide commitment to promoting inclusivity and safeguarding the rights of persons with disabilities. This collective dedication, from national to local levels, underscores the theme of this year’s DRAM, “Celebrating 30 Years of Democracy: Creating a Disability-Inclusive Society for a Better Quality of Life.”

8.    Conclusion

As we move through this month and beyond, let us all stay engaged, support these efforts, and encourage every sector of our society to make disability inclusion a permanent priority. Together, we are paving the way for a truly inclusive and accessible South Africa, where every person with a disability can thrive.