South Africa: The Member of the Executive Council for Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dibolelo Mance visited the employees living with disabilities. The meeting sought to help the MEC to address the issues faced by the employees who are struggling with disabilities.
The employees of the department have been asking the Member of the Executive Council to make the department more disability friendly. MEC Mance announced that she has been organizing surprise visits to various offices under her charge.
These visits are expected to allow her to understand some of the most important issues faced by the people. The MEC interacted with some of the employees, discussing the future course of action.
The employees working for the department urged the MEC to deliver on some of the initiatives which are still outstanding. The conversation then kickstarted a series of actions and within two days, the MEC called in a meeting with the disability sector.
The meeting was attended by all the employees working with a disability in all the government offices. The attendants came from all the regions and communities within the Free State Province.
MEC Dibolelo Mance said that during this meeting, she wanted to hear from all the attendants on what the department can do. “I wanted to hear from them, what is it that we have not been able to achieve as a department. What are the challenges, what can be done?”
Further, she also came forward to ask the attendants if there were any success stories that they can point towards. Some workers of the department highlighted that the department had helped them in completing their education.
On the other hand, MEC Mance recollected the issues raised in the meeting. It was highlighted during the meeting that the department was not compliant with disability accommodation.
Placement of people with disability was also one of the issues raised during the meeting. The employees also highlighted that their managers and supervisors are not well trained to deal with people living with disability.
MEC Dibolelo Mance confirmed that the issue of accommodation will be dealt with swiftly. She said the issue is not negotiable and the HR must see to its implementation.
Further, they have also agreed to create a forum who will meet with the MEC on a quarterly basis, ensuring that everything they have agreed to is being implemented.
Further, the MEC also said that they will address and deal with the structure problem of the department within the hundred days.