People living with disabilities in rural areas are more isolated. (Doug Maloney/Unsplash)
Despite constitutional protections and national initiatives like Disability Awareness Month, people with disabilities in rural areas say they are overlooked. They face ignorance and stigma in the workplace and in their communities.
Disability Awareness Month in November went by without recognition in Embo, a rural town east of Durban. Similarly, International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December also passed without notice here. People with disabilities in rural areas say they are overlooked, despite national and international campaigns.
“I have been disabled my whole life, but I could count the times hearing the term disability rights,” says Dudu Mazibuko, who lives in Embo. She has lived with a physical disability affecting her leg, after contracting polio as a child. She heard the term disability rights for the first time a few years ago when the local clinic invited a speaker to talk about patients’ rights in general.