GPL building is not user-friendly for people with disabilities

At the end of February, I had the privilege of attending the 3rd Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities Conference in Lusaka, Zambia.

This conference was attended by delegates from the following countries: Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, Eswatini, Zambia, and South Africa.

I was one of two delegates from South Africa and was proud to represent both my country and the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL). I was also even more proud to be called on as chairperson for three of the four sessions of the conference, including the Resolution Session.

However, my participation in the conference made me realise how little the GPL has done to make our building accessible for people with disabilities. This is happening despite the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Stephen Twigg, having advised us that funds are available to assist parliaments across the Commonwealth.

This support has been offered to parliaments facing challenges with disabled parliamentarians in accessing their workplaces, which may be addressed. The Commonwealth believes that structural and technological challenges should be dealt with to create a truly inclusive work environment.

As a disabled parliamentarian working in the GPL, it grieves me to tell you that there are no facilities for people with disabilities in the building.

Anyone with any physical impairment, such as I have, knows how difficult it is to access the GPL building. As I heard loudly at the conference from my fellow delegates, these kinds of buildings scream, ’People with disabilities are not welcome here.’

The GPL urgently needs to offer both people with disabilities and guests access that is respectful, dignified, non-discriminatory and allows for autonomous access. As it stands, this is not the case. One must climb between 90 and 100 stairs to access the building.

I would be grateful if attention were drawn to these deficiencies in our building and urge the Gauteng Government to take much-needed action.

Madeleine Hicklin, DA MPL, DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Health