by Jeremy Opperman and Lois Strachan
To say that South Africa was a complex country with regard to disability in general and blindness in particular would be a woeful understatement.
Some explanation and historical context may be helpful.
South Africa as a democratic country is less than 30 years old. Prior to 1994 SA was a racially divided and segregated society. At face value, this could be stated as a divide between Black and White.
However when one unpacks the multitude of permutations affecting colour, creed, wealth, poverty, class, and disability, a far more complex image emerges. The following brief essay must be read with these challenges in mind.
Legislation
It seems sensible to start with Legislation.
The problem is that SA does not have a purpose-built disability legislation, such as the ADA in the US. We have several benign acts that support non-discrimination or affirmative action, but nothing specific. having said that, ironically, we have one of the few Constitutions in the world that specifically mentions Disability. Our strongest Act of Parliament that explicitly acknowledges disability is the Employment Equity Act, number 55 of 1998. It clearly states that people with Disabilities must be considered for affirmative action in terms of employment, along with women and people of colour.
As positive as this might seem, the apparent facilitation of employment of persons with disabilities cannot happen in a vacuum. Without similar legislation supporting access to other crucial elements that make up the society in which we live, such as transport, education and general accessibility to facilities and amenities; people with disabilities including the blind remain vulnerable.
It is in this context that we must view the lives of the more than a million blind people in South Africa.
Education
It is of course important to remember that only a small percentage of the blind in any society will have been blind since birth or childhood. Therefore blind education is only reflective of those who had early blindness causes.
SA has 22 blind schools that vary in resources, support and ultimately quality of education. This is one of the starkest reminders we have of our regrettably segregated past, since the differences can easily be traced to the schools separated originally by colour.
Having said that, a handful of blind schools including some previously intended for students of colour, provide exceptionally good primary and secondary education. This is borne out by the impressive educational trajectory of some blind persons who came through the system. Notwithstanding the laudable achievements of some, the great majority of blind students barely achieve their high school diploma.
Another regrettable fact is that, increasingly, maths and sciences are no longer being taught at these schools, which sadly limit the choices many have after school. Encouragingly, there is a slowly growing number of mainstream schools, that are taking in a few blind and low vision learners which will hopefully broaden their opportunities.
Fortunately, the number of blind students attending university reflects the growing capability of universities to be able to accommodate them.
Employment
Unlike many developed countries who often claim between 30 to 50% employment of blind persons, South Africa has a universally dismal record of employment of persons across the Disability spectrum.
Historically, blind employment was more robust compared to most other disabilities, due in large to the global practice of encouraging blind people to work on telephone switchboards, a practice made popular since the end of the first world war.
Still today, it is not uncommon to find telephonists who have doggedly served their companies for over 30 years. This stereotype was reinforced by the fact that most blind schools who offered high school diplomas, also offered training in switchboard operation. This practice continues today. Unfortunately, it reinforces the pervasive stereotype that reception and telephony are useful employment opportunities for blind people. Many blind people have begun their careers as switchboard operators, including these authors.
Notwithstanding impressive university degrees, even post graduate qualifications, far too many blind job seekers are not even considered for positions that they, frankly, could do with their eyes closed. This, sadly, results in almost all blind people being either underemployed or unemployed.
Having said that, it is always gratifying to hear about well employed blind South Africans. Of these two distinct groups emerge. Those that are employed in the blind or disability sector, often achieving prominent positions such as CEOs of non-profit organisations, including a South African World blind Union past president.
The other group are those who have nothing to do with the Disability sector. In SA we have blind people in senior positions in government, including a past Minister of Justice, a Constitutional Court Judge, lawyers, industrial and clinical psychologists, several MBA recipients with correspondingly appropriate corporate positions, chiropractors, physiotherapists, bankers, journalists, academics, various IT positions including programmers, analysts, and a blind actuary. In addition there are many entrepreneurs operating with varying degrees of success.
Sadly, the fact remains that well over 90 – 95% of the remaining blind and visually impaired persons are unemployed.
Access to orientation and mobility instruction
South Africa is not a small country; it is twice the size of Texas.
The 60 million inhabitants are based in cities and major towns or in dense urban satellite ‘townships’ or live in sometimes far flung and inaccessible rural areas, many miles from major towns.
Unfortunately, we have very few trained orientation and mobility instructors to service the blind in the country. This despite there being a world class College of Orientation and Mobility in Johannesburg, situated on the campus of the South African Guide dog association. Sadly, there are few employment opportunities for graduated O&M instructors, due to funding constraints at NGO’s.
As a result, especially in the rural areas, congenital and late onset blind people are often overlooked in terms of O&M training. This leads to a perceived inability to manage even basic tasks in a rural homestead, such as fetching water, cooking, cleaning, or going anywhere unassisted.
Rare as it is, it is heart-warming to see the evidence of O&M provided to a rural blind person and to see their newly won independence. In urban areas, access to O&M is marginally easier as there are more blind service organisations, but ultimately, there are still far too few instructors in the country.
We have a well-established 71-year-old Guide dog organisation, which has allowed thousands of Blind Guide dog users considerable independence, including both these writers.
Public transport
There is a direct correlation between blind people having had decent O&M training or access to guide dogs, and their utilisation of public transport.
Public transport options include rail, bus, and minibus taxi. In addition there is a vibrant Uber market in most of the urban centres. Minibus taxis are ubiquitous while the quality and extent of a metro rail system depends on the city one lives in.
Unfortunately, like most large rural countries, transport is limited in rural settings.
From a blind perspective, there are few audio described routes and destination points. Only two rail networks have proper audio prompting. This makes travel that much more difficult for blind users and requires assistance from staff or fellow passengers to inform the user about correct routes and destinations.
Accessible media
South Africa has a long history of providing blind people with access to Braille, tape, and online reading material. However, the scope and choice of material is limited due to both the prevailing book famine for blind people, which is made worse since South Africa has inexplicably still not signed and ratified the Marrakesh Treaty. Doing so would widen access to a far broader network of accessible libraries. As an example, blind South Africans have only limited access to titles on Bookshare which is the world’s largest library of accessible material.
Similarly, access to legitimate audio described film and TV media is mostly confined to Netflix. However, there is a fledgling audio description industry which promises to provide more AD for local TV productions.
South Africa is well known for its innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. This can be seen in the innovative ways solutions have been sought to overcome numerous access challenges. This includes locally produced accessible voting templates and additional local language options for screen readers. South Africa has offered accessible ballot templates for blind voters since 2014.
South Africa is a keen sporting nation, acquitting itself well at disability sporting events like the para-Olympics and World Championships.
We have a keen interest in blind Cricket, bowls and goal ball, and won one of the first Blind Cricket World Cup contests held in India in the 1990’s.
Conclusion
While this overview may appear bleak, it is a microcosm of the larger situation in South Africa generally. The South African government faces complex challenges relating to the lack of resources in all sectors and, sadly, the needs of members of the disability community do not appear to rank high on the list of national priorities. However, despite their stretched resources, there is good work being done by numerous organisations to accommodate the needs of the blind community and every success brings hope to us as a community.
This article was written in 2021 by Jeremy Opperman and Lois Strachen for the American Council of the Blind (ACB). The article outlines the status quo of blind and low vision in South Africa. Jeremy Opperman is an experienced disability inclusion consultant and speaks and writes widely. He serves on the boards of several blind organisations and is a keen Rotarian. You’ll find more on him here and on LinkedIn. Lois Strachan is a bestselling author, speaker and podcaster who uses her platforms to raise awareness of the capabilities of those who are blind and visually impaired. Find Lois here or on social media.