Date: 22/11/2005
Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government
Title: Xasa: Enoch Sontonga Rehabilitating Centre and Thembelihle Training Centre for Blind graduation ceremony


  Address by the Eastern Cape Department of Social Development MEC Toko Xasa during the Enoch Sontonga Rehabilitating Centre and Thembelihle Training Centre for Blind graduation ceremony

Honourable guests
Family and friends
Departmental officials and graduates

I am deeply humbled by this display of collective human endeavour that seeks to empower the previously marginalised sectors of our population to ensuring that they begin to claim their rightful place in our dynamic and fast changing society.

But again, it is critical that as we enter our 11th year of our fledging democracy that we reflect on progress made to ensure that our disabled people benefited from the fruits of our hard earned freedom.

Such introspection will also afford us an opportunity to remember the amount of work that we put to it the structural legislative framework was a major enemy that had to be dealt with.

It is painful that the apartheid unjust laws compromised our value system and esteem as a nation. We emerge from a society that had misconceptions about disability and as a result discriminated against its fellow beings.

But nowadays it is encouraging to see that much has been done to redress such gross human violation.

We need to commend our departmental officials and the non-governmental organisation (NGO) sector for continuously working as a collective to ensure that we sensitise our people around such issues.

I am convinced that this magnificent event symbolises the extent our government and its stakeholders have moved to addressing these structural deficiencies to ensure that we create a self-decency citizenry.

It is imperative to share with you that the Department of Social Development is currently undergoing a major policy shift that will see the establishment of the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA).

The new agency will be responsible for the administration and payment of social security grants in the new financial year. This gives the department an opportunity to focus more on its policy mandate that of designing integrated programmers looking at placing our people at the centre of their socio-economic development.

The department is charged with creating opportunities mainly for the youth, elderly and disabled unemployed sectors of our population to begin to play a role in the broader transform process.

The department has set aside R16 million intended for institutions looking at empowering the disabled to ensure they become entrepreneurs and in turn contribute towards local economic growth.

Other deliverables are:
* Homes for the disabled
* Day care centres for the severely, mentally and physically challenged children
* Protective workshops (transformed into business ventures)
* Social Work Agencies)
* Home and Community Based Care Programmes
* Assessment and information centre.

The department through its Social Security System is further providing disability and care dependency grants to the poor and vulnerable people in the province.

As we commemorate the 16 Days of Activism of No Violence Against Women and Children, it is important that we join hand as partners to curb any form of abuse, HIV/AIDS infection and other social ills facing us in the 21st Century.

With those few words I wish to make a clarion call to all of us here today that let us break the stigma attached to disability and become an embracing developmental society.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Social Development, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
22 November 2005