While the Coronavirus pandemic has greatly affected and disrupted the lives of all South Africans, the impact has been severe on persons with disabilities.
A study has concluded that the voices of persons with disabilities need to be heard to ensure that their human rights are not overlooked or excluded during future pandemic provisioning.
The research study done from November 2020 to March 2021 on the impact of COVID-19 on persons with disabilities in South Africa was conducted by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Regional Office for Southern Africa in partnership with the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities.
The findings from the study showed that while there were a few positive stories and experiences shown during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa, the rights of many persons with disabilities were denied or limited. These include the rights to healthcare, communication, education, safety and security, and employment.
“In order to provide relevant and suitable accommodations and healthcare, persons with disabilities and their representative organisations need to be consulted and involved in all plans and policies,” the report read.
In regards to accessibility to government services, information and communication, and public environments, the study recommended that government must ensure access to basic services, information and communication, and access to identified screening and testing sites, quarantine and isolation sites for all persons with disabilities during the national state of disaster.
Speaking at a virtual panel discussion hosted by the Government Communication and Information Systems on Wednesday, Phuti Mabelebele, Chief Director: Advocacy and Mainstreaming Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities said that government has developed extra instruments and doing all in its power to guide on which measures need to be in place in order to address the issues regarding the inclusion of persons with disabilities.
“It is true that during the national state of disaster, persons with disabilities remain the most affected. It is against this background that we therefore currently have two frameworks that have since been approved by Cabinet, and have been gazetted.
“Those frameworks provide guidelines for us as duty bearers to follow in order to ensure that persons with disabilities are included. The framework on reasonable accommodation and universal design talks to areas of access and design be it infrastructure, among others,” she said.
Mabelebele said that it is important that the frameworks are looked at and ensure that in line with the implementation metrics of the white paper “we begin to implement right and accordingly and address the gaps that have been identified”.
She added that there were two more frameworks that are awaiting approval, which are the Frameworks on Disability Rights Awareness Campaigns and Self-Representation.
She said these guide on how duty bearers can ensure persons with disabilities are active participants in day to day society and governance processes that are in place.
Source: South African Government News Agency