The Gauteng Department of Social Development under Directorate Gender, Youth and Disability Mainstreaming (GYDM) hosted a virtual Disability Awareness workshop under the theme “The Year of Charlotte Mannya-Maxeke: Realizing Disability Equality”.
The workshop targeted department’s employees with and without disabilities to raise awareness on the rights of the Deaf community and the importance of everyone learning South African Sign Language.

The GYDM Director, Leonie Van Der Merwe, said the directorate continues to carry out the mandate to build capacity and to empower employees through exposure to inclusion programs that will develop knowledge and increase sensitivity on equality matters.

“The empowerment on disability rights in the country is about dealing with the legacy of apartheid and the transformation of society, particularly the transformation of unequal power relations between people with disability and those without disabilities,” said Van der Merwe.

“It is also about addressing oppression, patriarchy, sexism, racism, ageism, and structural oppression, and creating a conducive environment which enables persons with disabilities to take control of their lives”, she added.

Neema Foundation gave a background of the deaf culture and on the South African Language Masterclass.

Increasingly, people with disabilities are asserting their rights and using the channels available to them in seeking redress when their rights are abused.

Questions were raised during the workshop by officials who wanted to know and understand the deaf community.