The HOD of the Northern Cape Department of Social Development, Shouneez Wookey (left), listening to presentations on the Draft Policy on Services to People Living with Disabilities. Picture: Supplied
AS PART of National Disability Rights Awareness Month, which runs from November 3 to December 3, the national Department of Social Development has conducted public hearings on the Draft Policy on Services for People Living with Disabilities in the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga.
The hearings follow earlier engagements, during which province-specific inputs were received and highlighted. These inputs were collected as part of the public hearings into the Draft Policy on Social Development Services to Persons with Disabilities, which was approved by the Cabinet in 2023 for public consultation.
The head of the Northern Cape Department of Social Development, Shouneez Wookey, said the report strongly advocates for government investment in education, capacity building, skills development, employment, and funding opportunities for persons with disabilities.
Wookey also noted that the provincial department would implement programmes to promote greater inclusivity for people with disabilities in society.
“There are nine areas covered in the policy, including mainstreaming and inclusivity and access by persons with disability, education and capacity building, employment and socio-economic empowerment, social development support, services and funding, legal prediction and social awareness in advocacy,” explained Wookey.
“The Northern Cape has piloted a programme in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), facilitated by the government of Japan. This programme provides training to parents of children with disabilities.
“We launched this programme with a non-governmental Organisation (NGO) named ‘Strong Women’. These were women who were mothers to children with disabilities and they could relate to the challenges that parents in their situation faced. We trained these women and they are now able to advocate for parents of children living with disabilities on matters such as access to health care and education. The group then also renders support to others as they can discuss their challenges.
“We will be rolling out this programme to other districts, starting with Pixley ka Seme District as there has been a significant increase in disabilities in that area. We have realised that the increase is due to a rise in Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) cases.”
Wookey added that the provincial department had also revised its focus on programmes.
“We want a database of all persons living with disabilities. The intention of the database will be to compile a skills audit and then include those young people in our youth development programme for skills development. Some may have an interest in becoming artisans, depending on the nature of their disability, and others may have an interest in becoming entrepreneurs.
“There are those who may have skills that could be aligned with different government departments and we could assist them in being employed in those departments.
“That database will ensure that within our own recruitment programmes and also in our identification of youth at risk, we identify the skills development and we do not miss anyone with a disability who may have an interest in being trained in a particular area.”
She said the Province is striving to improve the inclusivity of people with disabilities in both government and private sector careers.
“We are not doing very well and it can be ascribed to the fact that we do not have the data on those cases. That is why it is important that we get the data and also adhere to the country’s legislation on the sharing of people’s information without permission.
“After the data has been released - with permission from the person – the intention is to look at whether both recruitment and skills development processes are inclusive of persons living with disabilities.”
Wookey said NGOs play a vital role in extending the arms of the department in rendering services.
“As the department, we do not work in isolation. We have other organisations that we work with. In addition to our staff, we have NGOs that we work with in the communities. We also rely on NGOs to support us in rendering services.”
She added that several programmes under the policy are already under way.
“There are programmes, such as Mainstreaming and Education in Capacity Building, which is part of our daily responsibilities, that are already running. Employment and Socio-Economic Empowerment is the one we are now focussing on. Legal Protection is one of the programmes we still require a lot of assistance with.
“Social Awareness and Advocacy is also part of our everyday programmes. We basically covered most of these programmes, but the one we need to drive home is the Employment and Socio-Economic Empowerment programme. That will definitely be unfolding soon,” Wookey concluded.