20 Dec 2017

International Day for People With Disabilities (PWDs) commemoration provide a platform to share challenges on how government and individuals can serve people with disabilities well, says director of Economic Diversification Drive Unit (EDDU) at the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI), Ms Rosina Bontsi.

Speaking during the commemoration of people with disabilities day, Ms Bontsi said the day would raise awareness on issues of disabilities. “Change comes very slowly and we have to ensure that we make it quicker and the policies that we make have to include people with disabilities,” she said. Ms Bontsi further said PWDs  should be included in the social, economic and cultural aspect of the society because they were part of it.

She said government had taken keen interest of these special groups through the affirmative action, which ensured that a conducive environment was created for them to manage and own competitive businesses, citizen empowerment through reserving 20 per cent quota for people with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups.

One of the people with disabilities, who attended the commemoration, Dr Force Thema shared his academic excellence story and said he had hard times during his school days but through determination and believing in himself, he managed to achieve his goals.
“We have to ensure that people with disabilities are perceived complete, get involved in politics and they contribute meaningfully in the socio-economic landscape,” he said.

He highlighted that self-belief, self-love, changing one’s thinking and trusting in God were some of the things that made him achieve his goals. Dr Thema said people with disabilities should uplift other people with disabilities, have the spirit of self-reliance, contribute to humanity and think smart.
Mr Nkgopoleng Kolagano, who also has disability, said living disability should not hinder people from being what they wanted to be in life.

He also shared his entrepreneurial excellence story, which included going on a benchmarking mission to Paris, working with top designers for Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Hermes in 2015 among others.
Mr Kolagano specialises in leather crafts and trade by the name, Lebang Setso. ENDS