The Launch of the DA Braille Manifesto

Note to Editors: This is an extract of a speech delivered by DA Leader Helen Zille at the Launch of the DA Braille Manifesto in Grassy Park, Cape Town today.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

It has been wonderful to visit the League of the friends of the Blind today. The work that this organisation does is life-changing for the many visually impaired adults and children who pass through its doors. If I had to capture the contribution of this NGO in three words, I would use the terms ‘hope', ‘opportunity' and ‘excellence'. On behalf of the DA, I would like to thank you for your hard work and dedication. I would also like to commend the invaluable work of the Cape Town Society for the Blind and the UCT Disability Studies Department who are represented here today. 

I am especially pleased today to launch the Braille version of the DA's 2014 campaign manifesto, ‘Together for Change, Together for Jobs'. This is a first for South Africa. Following this handover today, we will make copies of this Braille manifesto available at every DA office in the country, at all nine provincial offices of the South African National Council of the Blind, at the Grahamstown Library for the Blind, here at the League of the Friends of the Blind, and at the disability desks at every university in the country. 

We are doing this at substantial cost to the DA, but we believe it is necessary so that visually impaired South Africans can engage in the political process fully. 

Decision makers, and politicians, have been slow off the mark in understanding that, for the visually impaired, Braille is literacy. It is not enough to say the right thing. It is essential to follow through with concrete action steps. 

Braille literacy is an integral part of the DA's vision of the "Open, Opportunity Society for All." If we believe that every person should have the means to take advantage of the opportunities and freedoms implicit in our Constitution, then Braille literacy is an essential component, just as sign language is for deaf people.

In an Opportunity Society, no one should be confined by the circumstances of their birth. Braille literacy enables blind people to access knowledge and opportunities so that they can participate without hindrance and contribute fully in society. People with disability are entitled to the same rights and freedoms as everybody else: a right to dignity and respect; and the freedom to make of our lives what we wish and are prepared to work for.

A fundamental point follows from this: Our entire society and economy is held back if people with disabilities cannot access the same opportunities that everyone else can. 1 in 10 South Africans has a disability of some kind. There are many ways that people with a disability are separated and marginalised in schools, at work, in accessing public services, and in social life. Often these people are treated without empathy, as it is nearly impossible for anyone to imagine how isolating a sensory disability can be. People struggle to empathise until they experience diminished sight or hearing or mobility themselves, usually in old age. 

So now is the time for all South Africans to recognize the need for Braille literacy so that the visually impaired may be empowered. We must all join in making Braille literacy a priority - especially so that blind children can master basic literacy and numeracy concepts at the Foundation Phase. It is an unacceptable fact that 165 000 children with disabilities are not in school. This affects their entire life chances, and should concern us all deeply. 

And this reality forms the basis of the DA policy for children and adults with disabilities. We support state-funded schooling for learners with special needs. This may take the form of special need classes in mainstream schools with properly trained teachers. Alternatively, education can be provided through specialized schools. It is vital that we harness the power of ICT technology to provide support to students with special needs. This is a focus of the DA government in the Western Cape. Needless to say, all transportation must be upgraded so that people with disabilities can move around with ease and in comfort and safety. It can be done. Cape Town's MyCiTi has been recognized as a world leader in universal access.  

None of us should be surprised that there is strong statistical correlation between reading Braille and employment. But - as in many other countries - the majority of people with disabilities are unemployed. It is worse in South Africa because our economy is already divided between insiders and outsiders due to the inequalities and injustices of our apartheid past. This means that the majority of people with disabilities are disadvantaged on two fronts. Too many South Africans with disabilities are still measured by what able bodied people think they cannot do - not by what they can. Too many employers still assume disabled means unable.

This is why intervention to bolster economic inclusion for people with disability is vital. We must encourage workforce innovation to improve outcomes for people with disabilities.

The DA therefore promotes employment and skills development opportunities for all people with disabilities through the broad-based score card. We however recommend that the relevant provisions in the codes be amended to include all persons with disabilities regardless of their ‘race'. The current provisions limit recognition to black employees with disabilities.

Where the DA governs, we have been working hard to remove barriers for people with disabilities. We have dedicated and ring-fenced budgets in each Western Cape government department for people with disabilities. There are currently 19 471 learners in the 75 special schools in the Western Cape. And there are, among many other initiatives, 47 social service organisations for disability awareness, education, developmental, therapeutic, and counselling and support group programmes that are funded by the provincial government. Together, these programmes assist 23 222 people with disabilities, and their families. I personally lead a quarterly review of the progress that the provincial government is making on prioritising people with disabilities.

But, of course, there is much more work to be done. And in launching the DA's Braille Manifesto today, the DA commits itself to building a truly inclusive South Africa, free from barriers and with many more opportunities for people with disabilities to participate fully. 

Issued by the DA, March 25 2014

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