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ARE WE DOING JUSTICE TO PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES?

21/09/2017 03:45:00 By Vusi Kunene

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I use the Ludzeludze - Manzini via Matsapha road very often and it is usually after working hours. Along the way, I usually see a guy travelling in a wheelchair.

This guy is usually heading towards the Ludzeludze direction after work and I have never seen him in the morning. But when I see him in the afternoon he is usually in working apparel and he seems to be returning from work. Rarely do I see him being assisted with the wheelchair. He is usually alone and going home. I have never discussed anything with the guy as I usually use public transport.

My concern is that here is a person with a disability trying to make a living and it seems no one cares other than those who rarely assist him. Only once in the past two years have I seen someone stopping to give the guy a ride. This guy is not the only person with a disability and facing different hardships.

When I asked myself if we cared about these people, I came to the conclusion that we only cared about them when talking and we never bring our words into action. In actual fact we are not adhering to the Bill of Rights as provided for in the Constitution.
Section 30 (1) of the Constitution provides that persons with disabilities have a right to respect and human dignity.

If they have a right to dignity, is there any dignity in them having to travel in wheelchairs for long distances? Another lady along the same route I have mentioned is visually impaired and has to rely on kind hearted kombi conductors when she has to cross the road after alighting from a kombi. Is there dignity in her having to always rely on other people to get home?

She is always forced to cross the road immediately she alights from a kombi because the driver has to leave and she may not get assistance. Is there any dignity there as she is forced to walk even when she is not ready? When alighting from the kombi and having seated a long time you have to find your balance before walking and that is not the case for this lady.

Government and society are called upon to take appropriate measures that persons with disabilities realise their full potential. I wonder if they will realise their full potential when they are not afforded an equal chance of going to school. I don’t look down upon the initiatives that are being done like having a curriculum in colleges that teach the would-be teachers on how to teach people with disabilities. But is that enough to make sure they reach their full potential?

The number of teachers is too minimal to take care of the population of people with disabilities. Is the material for their learning, like Braille, provided for? Again I must mention that I am not saying nothing is done as we have also seen places like Manzini making means of helping the visually impaired with ‘talking robots’. But only one street has those robots and one wonders if people with visual impairment use one street in the whole town? What about the other towns as they also live in those?

I wonder if we will ever have a Parliament that will adhere to the provisions of the Constitution because the current Parliament has dismally failed to do so. Subsection 2 of Section 30 calls upon Parliament to enact laws for the protection of persons with disabilities to enable them to enjoy productive and fulfilling lives. To this day I have not seen any laws enacted to achieve this goal. Is it a fulfilling life if a person has to push his wheelchair daily from Matsapha to Ludzeludze? Is it a fulfilling life when a person has to cross the road even when she is not willing or ready to?

Is it fulfilling when one is forced to go to the School for the Deaf in Siteki if that person wants an education but is deaf? Are we in that way not discriminating against persons with disabilities? Are we not denying them a chance to reach their full potential and therefore not enjoying a full productive life? The office of the Deputy Prime Minister is also not doing enough for them. Why is this office failing to push for the legislation to be passed? Why is it not pushing for a law to be passed that will make sure that public transport is accessible to people with disabilities without assistance?

I am also not happy with the amount given to people with disabilities as grants. In my opinion it is just an affront to their dignity because we have money to spend on unnecessary things. An example is the money that was spent when some mud was spilt along the Manzini - Mafutseni road before the SADC Summit. I wonder how many millions were used on that thing which has not lasted for even six months. I shudder that we do not do justice to people with disabilities.