Rural disabled left in the dark when it comes to their rights
Mandeni Municipality Disabled Workshop. Source: Facebook
People living with disabilities in rural KwaZulu-Natal have very little access to information about their rights which is making their lives more difficult.
Some disabled people living in rural KwaZulu-Natal have no idea about their rights even though government and the media constantly report on this issue.
That is according to Dudu Mazibuko, who was disabled by polio and lives in Embo informal settlement in the lower reaches of the Tugela Valley near the town of Mandeni.
It also has one of the highest levels of HIV and TB in South Africa and the local medical services are stretched to the limit in the region as Covid-19 ravages the province. At the same time, people living with disabilities here say information about their rights is hard to access.
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 speake