PCB Blog - Disabilities in South Africa
Disabilities in South Africa |
| 2011/11/18 |
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Melanie Veness: PCB CEO Like many South Africans, we have family that emigrated to Australia some ten years ago. They are currently back for a visit, and I was curious to get their impression of our country after having been away for such a long time. Some of the responses were expected and others were interesting. One of the things that they have found particularly frustrating is the fact that so many facilities are not wheelchair friendly. An example was made of a local bank. Having located the ramp, Gran, happily ensconced in her wheelchair was pushed towards the wheelchair access door. The door was locked, which resulted in some waving and gesturing to get someone’s attention. The door was finally opened. To the surprise of both Gran and our cousin pushing the wheelchair, the door opened towards them. Now, while doors opening outwards make sense from a security point of view, they are somewhat impractical for people in wheelchairs. How would someone operating their own wheelchair manage with this kind of access? The Australian contingent went on to say, that in the week that they have been here, driving our precious Gran around, they have yet to secure a disabled parking anywhere. It’s not that there aren’t allocated bays, it’s just that they are always occupied. So, either we aren’t allocating enough bays or people without disabilities are parking in them. I fear that it might be the latter. Their comment brought to mind something I witnessed a little while ago, that had me feeling enraged. I was waiting in a local supermarket parking lot for a parking to open up. It was after work, and the lot was full. A car drove up and pulled in to a bay allocated for the disabled. I watched as a very able-bodied nurse merrily got out of her car and went shopping. I sat there in total disbelief. If anyone should be sensitive to the needs of the disabled, I thought, then it should be a nurse. Surely?
On finally locating a parking, I marched straight up to the information desk to report this abominable behavior. The lady behind the counter smiled nervously at me at me and then shrugged, saying that there wasn’t really anything that she could do about the situation. I was utterly gobsmacked. According to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), there are approximately four million people with disabilities in South Africa. Our visitors have made me wonder: are we doing enough to accommodate their needs? If we are doing something, is it appropriate? And if we have made facilities available, are we managing them properly? |
| Tags: Disabled(1) Disabilities(1) |
| Comments |
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Nirupa 2011/11/18 02:29:22 PM I have read your article with interest. I am disabled and frail and female....and i sometimes struggle for parking....i wait for long periods for bays that are taken by able bodied people. I need your assistance please.. I had emailed the relevant department a while ago at the time the renovations were being done at the BLUE LAGOON and i asked for bays to be demarcated for disabled. The reply was that there are bays......have a look....the paint is worn out and the bays are used by the stallholders as part of their shop. Would it be possible for you to please request the relevant departments to please provide ample clearly marked disabled bays at the BLUE LAGOON BEACH. |
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Penny 2011/11/18 02:31:20 PM Thank you for the article you wrote regarding the plight of wheelchair users. My daughter has cerebral palsy and cannot walk so she uses a wheelchair. She is 24 and is a very articulate, intelligent young woman. She recently had a similar experience at the bank regarding access. She has a caregiver who was pushing her but it is still awkward as she had to be left on the pavement while the care giver tried to get the door to be opened. It gets worse; she had to report a fraud on her account and had asked me to accompany her. She is capable of handling this on her own and I want to encourage her to be as independent as possible. She approached the Enquiry counter and explained the nature of her problem and asked if they could move to a cubicle so they could be face to face. The person refused saying she had to work with that particular computer. So Julia had to sit in her wheelchair shouting up the person at the enquiry counter with no privacy. This is undignified and unacceptable. She managed to sort it out and was issued with a new card etc and told the fraud would be investigated before her money could be refunded. A week later they phone her caregiver to report that the money is being refunded. Why do this without attempting to phone Julia herself first? It is her account and her money. People operate off the assumption that if you are a wheelchair user you must also be cognitively impaired. Whenever she is in any shop, the shop assistants/tellers completely ignore her. They speak to the person who is pushing her. She says she feels like a ghost as if she cannot be seen. Wheelchair users like herself battle with self esteem as it is and the way the public treats her makes it worse. People are simply ignorant and do not know better but surely companies should be training staff regarding how to engage with people with disabilities. She can phone the bank manager and complain, she can try and phone managers of the various shops but it’s exhausting to constantly have to fight everything all the time. People with disabilities and their families already have extra difficulties in life without constantly having to fight for simple recognition. We need others to fight on our behalf so I’m grateful for the letter you wrote. Another matter is that there are so many buildings and restaurants that do not have wheelchair access. I don’t know if we have laws governing this at all but if we do, they are certainly not being adhered to. We daren’t take her anywhere without doing a reccie first. Another crazy situation is that apparently, according to the Road Traffic Act, disabled parking bays are only allowed to be used when the person with the disability is the driver. This is ludicrous as the reason one needs the disabled bay is for the width of the parking. To transfer from wheelchair to car, which she does with difficulty as it is, the wheelchair has to be placed next to the door. So the answer to your question is, no, we do not do enough to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities. Furthermore, as much as physical access is important so too is education and awareness regarding interacting with them. Thanks again for doing your bit to raise awareness |
