Media Release: People with disabilities stand to benefit in housing
11 November 2009
The Department of Human Settlements in partnership with different
stakeholders has started to take serious action to ensure that all people with
disabilities enjoy the fruits of our democracy have access to adequate housing
in the province. The Department has carried out a survey to determine the
number of people with disabilities who need housing assistance, how can they be
assisted during the process of building houses with specific structures and how
they can be assisted to help them with their housing needs.
This bold change in planning for the people with
disabilities will assist the Department in providing housing and social
amenities to the community. Past discrimination, disparities and
imbalances to wards people with disabilities by society at large continually
negatively affect the lives of the people with disabilities. This must now
change in light of the new mandate of the Department. We must all work
together so that the new mandate for the Department also includes the people
with disabilities.
Special housing structures for the people with disabilities that
favoured their needs must now be built for them. The plight of people with
disabilities has had very little attention so far and seems not to be taken on
board in the provision of housing. The survey conducted will help the Department
and municipalities to plan with the specific needs of the people with
disabilities in mind. From now on, people with disabilities must be
involved from the start during the building of their houses so that the
necessary modifications and changes are made with their concern. Some
houses are built without thinking of the frustrations that face the people with
disabilities. They struggle to get to their houses and a host of other
challenges in their houses.
People with disabilities are excessively and unfairly represented in all spheres of life. This leads to a variety of social problems including accessibility to houses. Accessible housing is essential for people with disabilities to live independently and have self-directed lives in their communities. It is witnessed in many social and cultural functions where the people with disabilities are found. The Department is determined to radically change this negative perception about people with negative.
Media institutions are invited to a Public Participation
Event is planned as follows:
Date: 12 November 2009
Venue: Oakley (Bushbuckridge)
Time: 09HOO
Contact person:
Freddy Ngobe
Cell: 082 859 4630
Tel: 013 766 6014
Issued by the Communications Directorate, Mpumalanga Department of Human Settlements
