As Casual Day approaches this Friday, 4 September, some in Stellenbosch are using the national advocacy initiative and fundraising project to highlight barriers faced by people with disabilities.
Casual Day, South Africa’s annual disability advocacy campaign, takes place this year Friday, 4 September, under the theme “Beat as One: Rhythm Matters”. PHOTO: Jade Wainwright
Run by the National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD), the 32nd Casual Day this year is marked under the theme “Beat as One: Rhythm Matters”.
According to its website, the NCPD encourages South Africans to buy and wear a R20 sticker in support of persons with disabilities.
Schools, companies, government departments and non-profit organisations across the country are among those who partner with the NCPD to sell the stickers and raise funds.
Schools and tertiary institutions keep 20% of what they raise and return the rest to the Casual Day account, as stated on the NCPD’s website.
Accessibility inclusion challenges
One of the biggest obstacles to disability inclusion remains how people understand disability, said Luiga Nicholas, marketing and training coordinator at Stellenbosch University’s (SU) Disability Unit.
“There is still a big stigma around disability and what it should look like,” she said. “We need to change that attitudinal barrier.”
Nicholas said these attitudes can often contribute to exclusion in some public spaces and make it more difficult for adults with disabilities to find work.
Nicholas also pointed to transport as a major hurdle for disability inclusion across Stellenbosch.
“There is no reliable accessible transport for people with disabilities,” she said. “It’s usually through organisations, but it’s not like free public transport. It’s something you need to arrange beforehand, and that’s if the organisation has availability.”
Anjeline Frans, a senior social worker at the non-profit organisation ChangeAbility, said this can be especially difficult for people with disabilities applying for social grants, as they often have to travel out of town to access regional or satellite offices, using money they already do not have.
Crystal Ehrenreich, occupational therapist at Dorothea Special School in Cloetesville, Stellenbosch, said the school is celebrating Casual Day with a dance event for its learners. According to its website, the school has trained learners with intellectual disabilities since the early 1980s, and now enrols approximately 265 students. PHOTO: Jade Wainwright
Municipal accessibility developments
Responding to these concerns, Stuart Grobbelaar, Stellenbosch Municipality’s communications manager, said the municipality’s role includes maintaining accessible infrastructure at facilities under its management, including taxi ranks, walkways, sidewalks and ramps.
He added that the municipality has also undertaken an extensive, multi-year accessibility programme in partnership with ChangeAbility, auditing services across all departments.
This process has included physical access points such as ramps, handrails and sidewalks, as well as municipal communications, looking at font sizing and colouring on pamphlets, newsletters, notices and the municipal website, he said.
“The Municipality is proud to have undertaken this comprehensive process,” he said, “and remains committed to continually improving accessibility across all municipal services for people with all forms of disabilities.”
The sensory corridor at Dorothea Special School was upgraded with funds raised from past Casual Day sticker sales. Crystal Ehrenreich, occupational therapist at the school, says the corridor is designed to help overstimulated learners regulate and calm down. PHOTO: Jade Wainwright
Dorothea Special School impact
Casual Day is also an opportunity to “promote the ability of persons with disability” beyond simply raising funds, said Frans.
At Dorothea Special School in Cloetesville, occupational therapist Crystal Ehrenreich said Casual Day can help shift how children with disabilities are seen.
“There’s a stigma with a learner that comes to a special school,” she said. “So we want to break those barriers.”
A portion of the funds Dorothea raises from selling Casual Day stickers to learners and parents go directly back into the school, said Ehrenreich.
Past proceeds have funded educational toys and the school’s sensory corridor, a space designed to help overstimulated learners regulate and calm down.
For Ehrenreich, the day carries a meaning beyond funding for her learners and other people with disabilities.
“It’s their day, where they can celebrate themselves,” she said.