The White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is essential to ensure that people with disabilities are treated as equal citizens in society and can greatly impact on their economic empowerment
The White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (WPRPD) is an important construct in the economic empowerment of people with disabilities. However, for many it is just another document. It could have a much greater impact on the lives of people with disabilities if it was better understood and utilised.
The vision of the WPRPD includes “a free and just society inclusive of all persons with disabilities as equal citizens”. The mission of the document is the “recognition of the diversity of experiences of persons with disabilities [which] underpins the Strategic Pillars of the WPRPD”.
The White Paper further states: “It acknowledges that not all persons with disabilities are alike or enjoy full citizenship and those personal circumstances (gender, age, sexual orientation, cultural backgrounds, geographical location, as well as a strategic reasonable accommodation and support needs linked to strategic impairments) require different responses within a human rights-oriented framework.”
Implementation of the WPRPD should deliver the following outcomes:
• Persons with disabilities are accorded and enjoy their full political, human, social and economic rights as all other people in South Africa;
• All persons with disabilities, irrespective of their age, gender, type of disability, race and economic status, participate fully and equally in mainstream social and economic life;
• The rights of all persons with disabilities to live and work in safe and accessible environments, free from discrimination, harassment and persecution, are upheld, and persons with disabilities have access to recourse and redress in instances where these are violated;
• Persons with disabilities have equitable access to life-long learning, training and capacity building, and are enabled to learn through technology-aided systems other than the traditional method of learning;
• Persons with disabilities are provided with services and interventions that ensure economic security, decent jobs and general economic empowerment;
• Persons with disabilities represent themselves on issues affecting their lives, make decisions about these issues, have control over their lives and are able to exercise choice; and
• All public and private transportations are designed for universal access.
As the theme for this year, I will be focusing on the above deliverables and reflecting on its impact on the skills development of persons with disabilities to achieve employment and/or entrepreneurship.
A key focus will be on the Empowerment Pillar that forms part of the WPRPD’s mainstreaming approach, which essentially aims to include disability planning in all aspects of society, from policies and budget to universal access design. The Empowerment Pillar covers processes, procedures, policies, programmes and actions aimed at ensuring access, equal treatment, inclusion, participation, accountability and efficiencies.
“It takes into account structural inequalities that affect entire social groups, and includes encouraging and developing the skills for self-sufficiency, with a focus on eliminating the need for charity or welfare in the individuals of the group,” the WPRPD states.
I will look at the relevant Strategic Pillars that pertain to skills development, employment and entrepreneurship, and provide a perspective on how they dovetail with current legislation and policy towards the economic empowerment of persons with disabilities.
Rustim Ariefdien is a disability expert extraordinaire, who assists businesses to “let the Ability of disAbility enAble their profitAbility” through BBBEE, skills development, employment equity and socio-economic development. He ensures that businesses are able to maximise their points on the BBBEE scorecard and become compliant with legislative requirements as stipulated in the Employment Equity and Skills Development Acts. His purpose is the economic empowerment of persons with disability in Africa. As a person with a disability himself, he has extensive experience in the development and empowerment of persons with disability.
