24 Feb 2014

Member of Parliament for Kgalagadi South has called upon the society to promote equality as well as open up opportunities for vulnerable people including those living with disabilities.

Speaking during a District Disability Day Commemoration at Bokspits in Kgalagadi District on February 21, Mr John Toto said stakeholders such as government and civic societies, amongst others, should focus on issues related to the inclusion of people living with disabilities in development both as beneficiaries and agents of change.

The day is celebrated annually to reaffirm and draw attention to the rights of people with disabilities worldwide. The day provided a forum for creating public awareness on issues pertaining to people with disabilities taking into consideration that people with disabilities were relatively left out of the mainstream, he said.

Mr Toto said the theme resonated positively with the overall objective of this country of equitable distribution of the economy and enshrined in the national vision 2016, “Towards prosperity for all.”

He noted that people living with disabilities should be heard and seen instead of hiding them as that closes doors for them and deny them a dignified life. Mr Toto outlined the objective behind restoring dignity for the disabled as creating a platform through which people could benefit equally from socio-economic dispensation.

Statistics show that Kgalagadi South constituency has about 213 people living with disabilities inclusive of children and has a special unit for such students with an enrolment of 19 in Tsabong.

Due to the limited facilities in the district, he said, some of the clients have been placed at various rehabilitation institutions such as Cheshire Foundation with one student, Mochudi Resource Centre for the blind (3), Ramotswa Centre for Deaf Education (2),  Ramotswa Junior Secondary School (2) and as a success story one  of the clients who completed at Ramotswa JSS was recruited as a teacher aid.

For his part, Council Chairperson, Mr Frans van der Westhuizen also urged the community to accept and learn more on how they could live better with people with disabilities. Ends