30 Nov 2016

The assistant district commissioner, Mr Ramogaupi Gaborekwe has appealed to people living with disability to stop taking advantage of their status to benefit from government initiatives in place.

He appreciated that they were given special dispensation but underlined that they should understand that they are set guidelines in place of which public servants had to adhere to when assisting applicants irrespective of their physical status.

He said in an interview when responding to some complaints by the chairperson of Ngami Voice of People living with Disabilities, Mr Edwin Phalane who stated that people living with disability are denied opportunities to fully utilise government programmes in place because of their status.

He said 85 per cent had indicated that they were not assisted to access programmes to improve their livelihoods. He expressed frustration that some public servants have negative attitudes towards people living with disability adding that some undermine their capabilities.

Mr Phalane said some officers had doubts if the beneficiaries would utilise the funding properly or run the projects as expected. “These negative attitudes towards us discourage us from benefiting and I urge all those with the pull them down syndrome to stop the practice and assist us as expected. We might be disabled but our minds are intact,” he added.
He appealed to all to break down the barrier and make a more inclusive society where their voice could be heard.

But Mr Gaborekwe who is also the chairperson of people living with disability in the entire district explained that people living with disabilities should understand that not all of them would be assisted once adding that at times some applications would be rejected depending on the budget availed.

He revealed that some applicants had already benefited.  He could not admit nor deny the negative attitudes amongst some public servants but stated that of course some employees could have bad attitudes not only towards people with disability but to all customers.

He said it is unfortunate as there is no evidence regarding the claims by the association’s chairperson but pointed out that the government policy encourages equal treatment to all.

He appealed to the association to submit their concerns and challenges to him as the district chairperson so that he could channel them to relevant authorities. ENDS