Opinion by Kamohelo Teele – On Tuesday, barely a month after assuming the Premiership position, the newly elected Free State Premier Mxolisi Dukwana announced his new look provincial cabinet to the exclusive preserve of Mme Mamiki Qabathe who served as the MEC of Social Development.
I mention her amongst the four axed MEC’s who served under his predecessor Sisi Ntombela because she is the embodiment and representation of the community I belong to (the Disability sector), her redeployment from the Executive, particularly Social Development may be politically correct decision but it remains an injustice to the disability sector.
I carefully use the word “injustice” not because I am undermining the constitutional prerogative of the Premier to appoint and fire the MEC’s, but I am speaking to the immense loss the disability sector will suffer as a result of this reshuffle.
When the Premier announced the new cabinet, he alluded to the fact that the ruling party were under tremendous pressure from the people of the Free State due to plethora of challenges that beset the province and needed to take decisive action in ushering in a new path of development.
Whilst I appreciate the changes in the provincial cabinet I am equally pondering about the ramifications and effects of this decision on Persons with Albinism and those with cross Disabilities in the small town of Jaggersfontein, Smithfield, Rouxville, Fateng tse Ntsho Paul Roux, Hielbron and many other places where there is no universal access, access to social welfare and economic opportunities for Persons with Disabilities.
I advance this argument because conceptual and empirical evidence suggests that Cde Mamiki Qabathe is the only ANC deployee in the Provincial Executive that cares deeply about the needs and aspirations of the Disability community, she is the only Public Representative in the democratic dispensation who has the value system, political will, maturity and demeanour that speaks to Disability Rights mainstreaming, Empowerment, Advocacy and accelerating inclusive participation through social welfare and employment opportunities.
I will demonstrate this fact in the later part of my article. South Africa is a sovereign constitutional democratic state governed by the supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law, the drafters of the supreme constitution ensured we have the Bill of Rights and progressive domestic Acts of Parliament and policies that promote human rights, dignity and equally before the law as well as the rights of Persons with disabilities.
Mamiki Qabathe
Our constitution is found on the premise of healing the divisions of the past which is based amongst others; the subjugation on the grounds of race, segregation and violation of human rights, towards ushering a constitution which is based on promotion non-discrimination on the grounds of gender, disability and sexual orientation. It is the very same constitution that is based on the will of the people and this includes Persons with Disabilities.
Furthermore, our constitution pronounces itself through the separation of powers doctrine to explicitly define the role of the state. The states consist of the Executive which is government of the day, the legislature which is Parliament and Nine Provincial Legislatures and the judiciary which are lower and superior courts of competent jurisdiction. The state has an obligation to serve the people of South Africa and this includes People with Disabilities.
Mme Mamiki Qabathe formed part of those appointed in the Executive to oversee functions of her portfolio and she has been a central figure in making a monumental contribution in ushering in values embodied in our constitution as well as pieces of Legislation that promotes access, inclusion and disability rights.
By pieces of legislation I will draw two references to base my argument, Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 (as amended by Act 47 of 2013 and White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2015).
The purpose of this Act is to abolish unfair discrimination and to promote equity in the workplace, the right to equal protection and benefit of the law, inter alia persons with disabilities as they are designated group in terms of this Act.
In terms of this Act, Unfair discrimination is being perpetuated in many ways; inaccessible workplace, discrimination, unethical advertising, inappropriate training for employees with disabilities. Employment Equity Act prescribes 2% disability representation in the Public and Private sector.
White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2015) is a policy document adopted by the cabinet on the 9 December 2015, the Nine-pillar policy document was designed for purposes of accelerating transformation, attainment of social and economic justice for persons with Disabilities.
Pillar number five of the policy document states that there should be concerted collective effort from government, civil society movements and the private sector to accelerate socio-economic inclusion for persons with disabilities.
In doing so, 7% disability representation is recommended in both the private and public sector, However, it should be noted, this policy document does not legally bind Public Representatives in the EXECUTIVE arm of the state to implement its recommendations through its implementation matrix model but only recommends because it is not an Act but a policy document drafted by collective stakeholders representing the disability Sector. Mme Mamiki Qabathe epitomized a bona fide Leader and Public Representative who understood her immediate task of ushering in the goals of the National Democratic Revolution.
On this day three years ago, Former Social Development MEC Mamiki Qabathe announced that they have appointed 75 (seventy-five) persons with disabilities in her department. Prior to the appointment, the department of Social Development had 40 staff members with disabilities which equated to a mere 1.5 disability representation and with the appointment of 75 people the percentage increased to 5%, unprecedented in the history of Free State Provincial Government.
The MEC in her official briefing highlighted the need to achieve 7% disability representation in the 2020/2021 financial year.
Apart from these appointments, several interventions were made, massive awareness campaigns, disability workshops and staff training, as well as reasonable accommodation for all disability appointees in the department of social development, mobile transport for employees with disabilities were procured, social welfare programmes benefitted majority of disability Non Profit Organizations and vulnerable communities in the small towns of the Free State.
My argument is firstly, the timing and political symbolism of her contribution and secondly is on precedence, I do so to appreciate challenges confronting disability sector in the democratic dispensation, particularly the Free State Provincial Government which has always been underperforming pertaining to disability empowerment.
I refer to political symbolism because “radical appointments” materialized on Human Rights Month, a month associated with Sharpeville and subjugation of Black people during the era of Apartheid. I make this emphasis because the government of the day does not pride itself in championing and advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities. Secondly, her contribution is unprecedented, no leader post 1994, either in the Local, Provincial and National Government sphere has engaged in a programme to appoint such a high number of people coming from marginalized groups, in this instance the disability sector.
The Free State Provincial Government has been the most underperforming province when it comes to employment of persons with disabilities, this is according to the report of the Department of Public Service and Administration.
The Department of Public Service and Administration reported that the 2015 targets for the representation of women and persons with disabilities is 50% and 7% respectively, both the public and private sector had the obligation to meet those targets.
The reasons for lack of disability representation emanates from lack of political will, access to information, prejudice and discrimination. The Chairperson of Portfolio Committee of DPSA in Parliament expressed her concerns that Free State and Kwa Zulu Natal had fewer disability representations in the executive and efforts must be made to address those challenges.
Mamiki Qabathe as the Member of Executive Council she has demonstrated the resolve, capacity, political will and resilience to build inclusive Free State that includes Persons with Disabilities and her departure will leave a huge void in the administration. The movement which she belongs to has taken a decision to remove her from the position and appoint a new MEC Ms Tshidi Koloi.
I can only be hopeful that the incumbent will appreciate this contribution and be able to work on already laid foundation towards the attainment of the goals of social and economic justice for persons with disabilities. Qabathe is a proven competent administrator with motherly demeanour, servant leadership, high value system and embodied the Batho Pele principles, I wish her the best of luck in her political endeavours.
Kamohelo Teele is currently pursuing LLB Degree in the University of Pretoria and serving in the Disability Advisory Committee of the South African Human Rights Commission. He writes in his personal capacity.
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