Rabia Mayet | rabiamayet@radioislam.co.za

09 April 2025

4 minute read

When people think of disability, they generally think of a person in a wheelchair, a person walking with a cane, or a visually impaired individual. But there are many with “invisible disabilities” like psycho-social and intellectual disabilities like autism or mental health issues.

In the past, persons with disabilities were always marginalized, and with South Africa’s history of apartheid, it was worse for this minority. While ‘nothing about us without us,’ is the slogan for persons with disabilities, they still face multiple barriers, with a lack of sign-language interpreters in places like courts of law, limited access to jobs, and inaccessibility to public buildings and spaces. Sabiha Majeed, lawyer, researcher and project officer at the Disability Right’s Unit at the Centre for Human Rights based at the University of Pretoria’s Law Faculty, works on raising awareness for disability rights in Africa.

According to Sabiha, the Protection and Promotion of Persons with Disabilities Bill was ratified in South Africa in 2007, obligating itself to the international convention to act in accordance with the bill. The deadline for the Bill to be domesticated is by the end of April. However, most disable people with “lived experiences” are not aware of the bill, and many of those who are do not even understand it. Despite continuous requests to the Lori-Form Commission, the Bill is not available in Braille or in an easy-to-read format.

Culturally, in Africa, there are many challenges facing persons with disabilities. One instance is people with albinism who are murdered and have their body parts harvested, or are concealed and kept away from others, segregated from their communities, a major violation of their rights.

Another section of the Bill focuses on “the right to family life” for children with disabilities to be safeguarded from “concealment, abandonment, neglect and segregation,” stating further that if the family is unable to provide for the child, the state will have to provide care in a “family or community-based setting,” preventing them from being placed in institutions.

For people with disabilities to access the Bill more easily, it will have to:

• Cut out legal jargon to be made more understandable
• Have a better consultation process, especially for those in rural areas or for children
• Be brought to a level where people can engage with the legal process
• Be developed and made available in all official languages
• Work on a dissemination process
• Be made simply accessible on the government website

From a personal perspective, Sabiha feels that “we are all human beings with equal rights” and this has spurred her on to do the work that she does. “Stereotypes and prejudices” are harmful barriers that people hold against persons with disabilities. From the time a baby is born, they might face discrimination from the hospital staff. Sabiha advocates for raising your voice and standing up against discrimination for people with disabilities. She says that “disability is being treated as an afterthought” which is why the public needs to be educated about it. The state need to “pull its weight in terms of its obligation” so that civil society doesn’t have to step in again and again to close the gap that is the government’s responsibility. In conclusion, Sabiha feels that it is important to understand that “persons with disabilities are entitled to equal and full enjoyment of their rights on an equal basis with others.”

Listen to the full interview with Faaiza Munshi on New Horizons.