Latest news with #C20SouthAfricaLaunch
IOL News
24-06-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Are South Africa's disability laws truly making a difference?
Sikelelwa Alex Msitshana, founder of the Deaf Empowerment Firm and chairperson of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD), highlighted ongoing challenges. Image: Itumeleng English / Independent Newspapers Besides some of the most progressive laws aimed at advancing the interests of the people living with disabilities, South Africa is still lagging when it comes to implementing some of these legislative frameworks. According to Statistics South Africa, persons with severe disabilities experience difficulty in accessing education and employment opportunities, while households headed by persons with disabilities were found to have less access to basic services compared to households headed by persons without disabilities. The statistics also reveal that there are disparities in terms of access to assistive devices across population groups and geography. At the recent C20 South Africa Launch, which has mobilised 14 working groups to generate actionable policy considerations ahead of the G20 Summit, Sikelelwa Alex Msitshana, founder of the Deaf Empowerment Firm and chairperson of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD), highlighted ongoing challenges. "We have come together to try and make sure the voice of people with disabilities is heard. People living with disabilities are still lacking in many respects, even though South Africa is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We have wonderful policies that are aimed at protecting the rights of persons with disabilities, but implementation is still lacking. "In all of that, there is a need to address issues faced by people living with disabilities. We are looking at inclusive education. We are saying early childhood development for people with disabilities should be prioritised early enough so that they can receive the care they need and be able to go to school and learn from an early age," she said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. 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Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading Msitshana, speaking on the sidelines of the three-day C20 South Africa launch on Monday, also stressed the importance of establishing Early Child Development (ECD) structures for people living with disability, saying this will help bring about an early start to young children with various disabilities, who are sometimes not catered for within the existing education system. "There are issues of employment that are affecting our young people. We are advocating for inclusive employment practices. Far too often, employers are still afraid to employ people living with disabilities and take in young people living with disabilities. This is more a factor of fear than anything. The programmes that we are driving are aimed at sensitising employers that there should not be a problem in employing someone living with a disability," she stated. Her outcry comes just hours after Deputy Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Mmapaseka Steve Letsike, called on civil society organisations represented at the C20 South Africa launch in Sandton to make sure their voices are heard. Letsike, who delivered her message virtually directed at women, children, and persons with disability, said no one should be left behind in ensuring that South Africa's hosting of the G20 Summit later this year is a success. "The disability inclusion stream and all these working streams are not intended to be for a box-ticking exercise as we believe that those closest to the pain must be the closest to power, and the C20 South Africa must bring solutions that bring an integrated response to these communities," the deputy minister said on Tuesday. The Soweto-born activist Msitshana is the founder and managing director of the DEF, a social enterprise which aims to transform the lives of members of the deaf community. This comes after Msitshana lost her hearing in 2015, resulting in her making it her mission to help the deaf community and other minorities access jobs and opportunities. In 2023, the National Assembly amended Section 6 of the Constitution and approved the South African Sign Language (SASL) as the 12th official language. Msitshana celebrated, believing that soon the deaf community would experience a shift. However, she believes this policy has not been fully implemented to ensure sign language is taught in South African schools alongside other official languages. "After years of fighting and lobbying, we welcomed the recognition of sign language as an official language, but there has not been any full implementation of this policy to ensure that sign language is taught at schools like all the other official languages. On paper, this is good, but we have not seen its full implementation," she stated.
IOL News
22-06-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Civil society at G20 gathering: 'No democratic society with huge unemployed population'
C20 South Africa chairperson Thulani Tshefuta highlighted the group's role, not as adversaries of the government but as crucial partners who advocate for those most vulnerable in society. Image: Itumeleng English/Independent Newspapers With just over 23 weeks left before South Africa gets to host the G20 Summit in November this year, more than 14 working groups from diverse civil society organisations gathered at The Capital on the Park in Sandton as part of the C20 South Africa Launch on Sunday. Chairperson Thulani Tshefuta highlighted the group's role not as adversaries of the government but as crucial partners who advocate for those most vulnerable in society and emphasised the need for advocacy work to align with South Africa's medium term development plan and the United Nations' agenda for 2030. His call for a mass-based, people-centred approach resonated throughout the launch, pointing to the urgent need for comprehensive consultations that address the issues faced by communities across the country. "We are not anti-government as we have been labeled as friends of government. When we have to respond to the plight of the poor, we are told this is expensive we can't afford that, but ours is to press on. "'m not about to pretend when we do our advocacy at community level. our work must align with the medium development plan and the agenda 2030. Our strategic approach should be truly mass-based, people centred and imbued with awareness of our advocacy issues. The challenge is that we must rise above our immediate challenge and look at strategic development instruments, we must be big and wide in our consultation," he said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading The 14 working groups include Women and Gender Equity, People to people interaction and Solidarity, Poverty Alleviation and Food Sustainability, Democratic governance, Civic Space, Anti-Corruption and Access to Justice, Cultural Diversity Recognition and Embracement, Trade and Sustainable Development, Digital and Inclusive Economies, Sustainable and Resilient Communities and Disaster Risk Reduction. These working groups also include four themes that include youth empowerment, addressing issues affecting women, meaningful inclusion of persons with disabilities and ensuring that LGBTQI+ people are not left behind. Tshefuta said intentional actions are needed to reverse the tide of poverty and unemployment, adding that this cannot be done without active market policies. "There will be no democratic society with such a huge population which is unemployed and idle. Poverty is real. Poverty is alive. There are people we refer to as being vulnerable, but we say nothing anything about those who are fully marginalised. It is a struggle to keep them surviving in the marginst," he said.
