Discrimination against disabled people in the Vhembe District came into the spotlight during a march to highlight their plight.

Disabled people under the auspices of the Vhembe Disabled Association say they have had enough of the discrimination against them by the local Thulamela Municipality. The group, comprising skilled and highly educated people, with some holding honours degrees, say they are being overlooked when it comes to employment. Their only sin, they claim, is their disability. The group handed over a memorandum to the Chief Whip of the municipality, Mr Mutshutshu Mamba.

The chairperson of the organization, Humbulani Nengovhela, said they have had enough of discrimination at Thulamela Municipality. “Enough is enough. We have engaged the municipality about the same issues since 2006 and up until now, all we are asking for seems to be falling on deaf ears and nothing has changed,” he said. Nengovhela said they had braved the cold and gone in their numbers to cast their votes. “We support our government and we will do everything in our power to make it work, but all our efforts seem to be going the wrong way as they are not considered for big tenders. We are forced to register for database consideration when it is known that they do not have money as they are not working. The municipality is not following the stipulated 2% employment quota for disabled people in every department, and we are being overlooked for learnerships and receive no funding for projects. We would like all this to be changed, as we are citizens of this country and we deserve the best,” he said.

Mr Mammba accepted the memorandum and promised to take it to the relevant office to receive attention. He promised a reply before the stipulated 14 days demanded by the organization. “We will soon be having our IDP programmes and we appeal to you to be part of this process, so that you make your inputs that will help us in our budget planning,” he said.