Deaf South Africans ‘still locked out of opportunity’

As many people in the world commemorate Deaf Awareness Month, the Deaf Federation of South Africa (DeafSA) has called on the government to treat deaf people with dignity and give them the opportunities they deserve.

Deaf Awareness Month is observed every year in September to raise awareness about deafness and the challenges faced by deaf people.

Employment discrimination concerns

DeafSA national director Bruno Druchen was concerned that the government and other employers were reluctant to employ deaf people “because it was costly as they will also have to employ an interpreter”.

“In a recent incident, a woman who is deaf and highly qualified was not promoted at her workplace because of her disability,” said Druchen.

“Instead, the company promoted her interpreter. She had tried in vain to convince them to give her a chance to prove herself.”

He said by law, an employer was obliged to hire an interpreter to assist a deaf employee “because it is their human right to have access to such a service”.

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Deaf Awareness Month

Be that as it may, Druchen said his organisation was looking forward to celebrating the national month of deaf people.

“The theme for this year is no sub-African sign language rights without human rights, deaf people,” he said.

“We are also urging the government to increase the number of schools offering matric for deaf pupils and they must not be limited by subject choices, as it limits their career opportunities.”

Access to universities

He said deaf pupils also need access to other universities because, currently, there were only four universities providing access for deaf people.

“Yesterday, we got a call from a woman who wanted to study at a college, but they cannot provide interpreting services,” he said.

“In this democratic South Africa, we need to make sure that deaf people have access to tertiary education without leaving their home towns.”

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According to the figures by Statistics South Africa, there are more than 2.1 million deaf people in the country.

Galaletsang Lelaka, executive director for the Skills Information Base Foundation, said: “Deaf pupils should also be encouraged to pursue trade careers such as being artisans and other related skills. The skills will assist them a lot because it does not require them to always communicate with people.”

Deaf people ‘rarely employed’

Disability activist Dolfred Sihlangu said he was aware companies were not willing to employ people with disabilities.

Sihlangu said authorities were not doing enough to address the situation.

“Advertisements state that people with disabilities are welcome to apply, but those people are rarely employed,” he said.

Sihlangu said many disabled people had qualifications, but were being sidelined by employers.

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