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School Grounds, Shakuma Village Sekhukhune District
Municipality
3 December 2008

Programme director
Executive Mayor of Sekhukhune District Municipality
Mayor of Tubatse Local Municipality
Honoured Traditional leaders
MP's and Members of the Provincial Legislature
Councillors
Leadership of the Disabled People of South Africa (DPSA)
People with disabilities
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and gentlemen

2008 Theme: Dignity and justice for all of us"

Allow me on this important occasion of the celebration of the 16th anniversary of the international day for disabled persons to wish all of you and numerous guests here present a wonderful day. The international day for disabled persons is celebrated within the calendar month of the 16 Days for No violence Against Women and Children, and only just two days after the commemoration of World AIDS day.

We are aware that there are children and women with disabilities who suffer double abuse, by virtue of them being women and children and also as a result of their disability status. We urge members of the community and people with disabilities to report such cases, so that the law can be able to take its cause.

Equally, in the spirit of World AIDS Day we want to reiterate once again, that this pandemic does not see disability. Disabled people like anybody else, are vulnerable and need to take care of themselves. We urge you to heed the ABC message by Abstaining if you don't have to indulge in sex, by being faithful to your partner or otherwise making use of a condom.

Let us once again use this occasion to recommit ourselves to the message of Zithande which means loving and respecting ourselves by stopping new infections and living positive and healthy lifestyles.

Programme director

"Dignity and justice for all of us" is the theme chosen by the United Nations for this year's celebration of International Day for Persons with disabilities. This is informed by the fact that dignity and justice are universal principles which form the basis of any freedom and democracy. What makes the theme for today even more relevant is because disabled persons themselves suffer worst from indignity and injustice which are often perpetrated against them by non-disabled members of our society.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are 650 million disabled people all over the world, a figure which constitute about 10% of the world's population. Of this number, it is estimated that about 80% of all disabled people worldwide live in developing countries like South Africa.
South Africa as a whole has about four million or five percent of people with disabilities. In our province we have about 500 000 people or 10% of the provincial population with various forms of disabilities.

It is further said that, only one in five people who are disabled is economically active, and only one in a hundred people with severe disabilities has a job in the labour market. The rest and the vast majority of disabled persons, live in poverty or depend on social grants and family support for a living, rather than earned income. This explains the reason why we need to continue having days such as these, in order to bring more awareness about the plight of people living with disability.

This International Day for Persons with Disabilities is a time to make a renewed commitment to these principles of dignity and justice and to ensure implementation of the many laws which we have put in place to secure the rights of all persons with disabilities.

The annual observance of the International Day of Persons with disabilities, aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilise support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of the gains which have been made in our attempt to integrate persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

Programme director

Since 1994, government has established Offices on the status of disabled people in the Presidency and in the Premier's offices so as to ensure that the needs of this sector of our community are placed higher on our agenda. We have passed a number of supportive legislation and set of policies because we understand that integrating people with disabilities into the mainstream of society is paramount to the work of government.

We have gone a long way in implementing the Employment Equity Act, especially in the public service. At a national level the public service's total workforce for people living with disabilities is about 114 000. Limpopo provincial government has employed 1,9% of people living with disabilities at senior management level which is regarded as the best representation in the whole country. We are not wholly satisfied by this achievement as we still have to meet the required and expected target of two percent.

We have clear programmes to reach this target at all levels of the administration, including at Middle Management Service (MMS). The development of a database of job seekers of people with disabilities, their training in job hunting skills, increasing the bursary allocation to people with disabilities, are but some of the measures we are taking, in order to achieve more equity in the labour market.

Our government will continue to make available the assistive devices which the disabled people need in order to become productive members of our society. These include the provision of prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs, sign language services, improvement of rehabilitation services for blind persons, the provision of white canes, low vision devices and other requisite facilities.

Programme director

We all agree that, access to buildings and information is still a major challenge for disabled persons in general. However, whilst most government departments have done their best to make sure that their buildings are accessible by installing lifts, ramps, handrails and wheelchair toilets, it is regrettable that some private sector buildings are still highly inaccessible.

We have also recognised as government that one of the challenges that is hindering the social and economic empowerment of the blind and partially sighted persons is the non-availability of documents in braille or audio tapes which make it difficult for them to access information. Many of the government documents like flyers, pamphlets and tender documents still have to be translated to Braille in order to make sense to this sector of our population. This is a challenge not only for government, but for all sectors in society.
Programme director

Central to the whole challenge of bringing dignity and justice to the lives of persons with disability is the need for education. Education remains the only key which can get disabled persons out of poverty and destitution. Anyone can still be educated irrespective of whether they are disabled or not. One's disability cannot stop him or her from attaining a good education. This is why we urge you to acquire various sorts of skills so that you can become self reliant. Business like government has a responsibility to deliberately employ people with disabilities and include them in their learnerships and internship programmes.

Bursaries and scholarships also have to be extended to this sector of our population, if we are to maximise skills amongst them. Nothing should stop any disabled person from pursuing their dreams. Being disabled is never a curse from God, and you too can become a carpenter, a technician, an engineer, a journalist, lawyer, politician, accountant, a businessperson or a doctor that you have always wanted to be. No dream is too far to reach. And your attitude towards life will always determine your altitude.

Programme director

In the same vein, we also wish to congratulate those young men and women in the disability sector who continue to persevere in their chosen careers against all odds. We take leaf from your courageous spirit and are very proud of what you have been able to achieve. We also wish to particularly recognise and congratulate the South African Paralympics team which did the entire country proud during their participation at the World Olympic games in Beijing. We draw comfort and inspiration from the fact that they were able to outclass many of the teams from developed countries in the competition, and their performance even surpassed what our own national able-bodied team was able to achieve.

We also in the same vein, congratulate two paralympians from Limpopo who are Kgothatso Montjane and Sydwell Mathonsi for doing the province
and the nation extremely proud during their participation in the games. Your achievements indeed show that anyone, with no exception has it within themselves to change their lives for the better, and to realize their dreams in their lifetime. Disability can happen to anybody irrespective of one's wealth or status in life. It is never a punishment from God and can be overcome.

Programme director
Notwithstanding the strides that we have made to advance the lives of disabled persons, legislation alone will not ensure that persons with disability enjoy their human rights. This is because our role in society is not only about enjoying the exclusive rights which we have, but also involve using our responsibilities to ensure that we pledge human solidarity towards one another.

The full participation of civil society formations, particularly of persons with disability, is essential in the monitoring and implementation of pieces of the adopted policies and legislation.

I wish you success and good luck in all your endeavours!

Thank you.

Issued by: Office of the Premier, Limpopo Provincial Government
3 December 2008
Source: Limpopo Provincial Government (http://www.limpopo.gov.za)