In 2024, role players must work closer together to establish a more accurate definition of disability. This will hopefully lead to more reliable information about the actual incidence of disability in South Africa. Why is a national disability prevalence rate of 7.5% in South Africa, for example, not a true reflection of reality? In my opinion, a prevalence rate between 12% and 15% is closer to the truth.
Some of the reasons are as follows:
◾️There is a lack of understanding of what physical, sensory, neurological, intellectual, and psychosocial impairments entail.
◾️There is also a lack of understanding amongst role players of how impairment may result in a disability as defined in legislation, policies, and guidelines in our country. Some definitions of disability are not inclusive, as they are not in line with the 2015 White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD 2006) and the SA White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (WPRPD 2015) both recognize disability as an evolving concept and state that “disability results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal, physical, communication, and information barriers that hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.”
Disability is therefore “imposed by society when a person with a physical, psychosocial, intellectual, neurological, and/or sensory impairment is denied access to full participation in all aspects of life and when society fails to uphold the rights and specific needs of individuals with impairments.”
(Source: White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2015)
An impairment that is disabling enough to justify the use of assistive technology, assistive devices, adjustments, and/or modifications is disabling. The reality is, therefore, that a mild impairment can be a moderate functional limitation (a disability), as prescribed in legislation, depending on a specific person and circumstance.
I believe that it is fair to say that data collection on disability prevalence through national and local surveys in South Africa is not necessarily in line with the prescribed disability policy and guidelines and therefore does not provide an accurate reflection of the actual incidence of disability. Mainly due to limitations in the number and type of questions that are asked. Language barriers, traditional beliefs associated with impairment, as well as understanding the functional impact of impairment and when and where a person with a specific impairment can be considered a person with a functional disability,
Statistics about disability prevalence are one-sided and subjective and may be misleading.
Contact Fanie du Toit
Senior Specialist: Hearing impairment or deaf affairs
National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities
Networks:
Global Peer Support Network
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095238445877&mibextid=ZbWKwL
Road to Independence
National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities
Person Centred Care: Special Interest Group, Africa.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/idainstitutesouthafricachapter/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT
Advocates for Individualized Hearing Care
https://www.facebook.com/groups/advocatesofindividualizedhearingcare/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT