Martins handover ceremony of sponsorship to Boiteko School

Speech notes on the occasion of the Deputy Minister of Public Enterprises, Hon. Dikobe Ben Martins handover ceremony of sponsorship to Boiteko School for the mentally and physically challenged, Carletonville

10 Mar 2012

Your Worship, the Executive Council
The Executive Mayor of the Merafong Local Municipality
The Speaker and the Chief Whip
The Teachers, Care Givers and Employees of Boiteko School
Social Workers
Community leaders and stakeholders of the school
Officials of the Department of Public Enterprises
Parents and Children
Ladies and gentlemen.

It is a pleasure to be with you here today to hand over the sponsorship cheque to Boiteko School for mentally and physically challenged learners.

Former President, His Excellency Hon Nelson Mandela in his address to the First Annual South African Junior Wheelchair Sports Camp, Johannesburg, 4 December 1995 stated that: 

“The new South Africa we are building should be accessible and open to everyone.  Disabled children are equally entitled to an exciting and brilliant future.  We must see to it that we remove the obstacles of poor access to facilities; poor education; lack of transport; lack of funding or unavailability of equipment.  Only then will the rights of the disabled to equal opportunities become a reality."

The Preamble to the Constitution of RSA records South Africa’s commitment to the attainment of social justice and the improvement of the quality of life for everyone. The Constitution declares the founding values of our society to be “human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms.

The Bill of Rights (Chapter 2 of the Constitution) highlights equality of all persons, specifically mentioning the right to equality and non-discrimination on the basis of, amongst others, disability.

South Africa has also ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in November 2007.

The UNCRPD defines disability as an evolving concept and that disability results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their full participation in society on an equal basis with others.

The UNCRPD in its preamble and general principles recognises the importance of accessibility to the physical, social, economic and cultural environment, to health and education and to information and communication, to enable persons with disabilities to fully enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Article 9 of the Convention addresses the fundamental issue of accessibility by stating that member states should identify and eliminate obstacles and barriers and ensure that persons with disabilities can access their environment, transportation, public facilities and services.

With South Africa being a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its optional Protocol, and the establishment of the Ministry of Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities is a sincere demonstration that as a country, South Africa is indeed committed to improving the quality of life of persons with disabilities.

The ANC led government has made remarkable progress in developing enabling legislation, transforming the state machinery and putting structures in place to be representative and responsive to the developmental needs of People with Disabilities.  

However, People with Disabilities still face social, economic and political levels of inequality and discrimination, contributing to their underdevelopment, marginalisation, unequal access to resources and lack of service provision.  The majority of People with Disabilities are still exposed to restrictive environments and barriers that continue to marginalise and exclude them from mainstream society and its social and economic activities.

Other key challenges that continue to exclude People with Disabilities from mainstream society are prejudice and social stigma, isolation, lack of access to support networks and resources for an independent daily existence, lack of access to infrastructure, services, communication, transport, opportunities, resources, education, technical aids, etc. that allow them independence and promote their dignity, self-sufficiency and responsibility.

Hence, Disability is a cross cutting issue and it remains everybody’s responsibility. Like all other citizens, People with Disabilities share the same rights as all citizens of our country. It is our duty as members of society to treat them with dignity and respect. His Excellency President Jacob Zuma has instructed all government departments to do all in their power to make or better life for our people.

It is with that in mind that the department of Public Enterprises took the decision to invest and donate the cheque of R300 000 (three hundred thousand) to the centre/school for the purposes of constructing a residential hostel to accommodate orphaned learners with disabilities and to create a safe, caring and conducive environment; which encourages people with disabilities to reach their full potential in an environment of mutual respect and that promotes excellence.

The sponsorship is part of our department’s social responsibility programme in terms of which the department provides assistance to identified indigent beneficiaries from different schools and communities.

The donation is also in line with government’s programme of action of prioritising education as a key factor to accelerate skills development and reduce unemployment in our country.

We trust that the learner residential accommodation will continue to ensure that learners housed in this facility are kept safe. Government’s equity, equality and empowerment agenda in terms of those living with disabilities is to protect the rights of persons with disabilities. The aim is to develop a non-sexist, discrimination-free, equitable and inclusive society that protects and develops the human potential of its children.

As government, we encourage the private sector to be involved in projects of this nature in the building schools, clinics and other community facilities.

Ladies and gentlemen, I wish to commend all those who have made it their responsibility to care for the less fortunate members of our society.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Public Enterprises 
10 Mar 2012