The Human Rights view In this podcast, produced by Lois Strachan and the second of four episodes, Jeremy Opperman continues on his trinocular theme of needing to look at the employment of persons with disabilities with perspective. Taking into account not just the legislative requirement to employ people with disability but for employers to look READ MORE
Author: Janey
Perspectives on employing Persons with Disabilities (1/4)
The Legislative View The importance of perspective in understanding the employment of persons with disabilities. In this podcast, the first in a series of four episodes, produced by Lois Strachan, Jeremy Opperman discusses the complexity of employing people with disabilities in the South African context. With his characteristic frankness and drawing on his 24 years READ MORE
Pockets of Excellence
We had just landed after a short hop from Orlando to Atlanta, and we have about 90 minutes to make our connection to Cape Town. Stepping off the plane we are approached by a man saying, “are you Mr Osman?” “No,” I say. “Yes”, says Jackie, my wife. “Oh, here we go,” I think. I READ MORE
Stairs!
“Stairs! Stairs!” They cried. I am standing in a train, at the entrance of a carriage looking out. In front of me is the platform of one of the downtown stations in Salt lake City. Upon the platform, stand my wife and daughter, shouting up at me, “stairs, stairs’’, although at the time, I wasn’t READ MORE
Do accessible signalised intersections and crossings ensure pedestrian safety?
In Cape Town we are blessed to have a great many universally accessible, signalised intersections and crossings which include an audio or audio/tactile facility, which are useful for blind and even deaf/blind as well. In fact, to the City’s credit, it is a matter of policy that audio signals are installed in any new intersection READ MORE
Why are there so few audio traffic signals?
It is almost three years to the day, on the 9th of September 2019, that the late Deputy State Attorney, Webster Sekwati, was run over on Pritchard Street, in downtown Johannesburg, right outside the High Court, at a pedestrian crossing. Mr Sekwati, by all accounts, was a humble, hardworking, and very competent lawyer. What is READ MORE
Is there Room in the Diversity Narrative for Disability?
At lunch recently with a bunch of people I didn’t know, I was reminded again how separated we, as People with Disabilities are. I was once again fascinated by the level of basic ignorance, displayed by normal average folks, about the basic capabilities of blind people, and the various bits of kit available to them, READ MORE
There is No Such Thing as an Accessible Train…(on its own)
Reading a helpful tweet from Metrorail about how they can be of service and, bearing in mind that it is Global Accessibility Awareness Day, made me think of the recent rail excursion involving the Western Cape Disability Network, which included this writer. At the time, several people with visual and physical disabilities, caught the new “People’s READ MORE
Podcast: The Challenges of Disability Advocacy
In Season 1, Episode 1, hosts Jeremy Opperman and Jeremy Warriner of the Rotary Disability Advisers Group have a lively discussion on the challenges of disability advocacy and the need to encourage not only changes in approaches to disability rights but also to thinking. Both are members of Rotary International and they share a vision READ MORE
Disability Disclosure with Lucille Greef (Aephoria) and Jeremy Opperman
In this YouTube clip, Jeremy describes how his long career in Disability Equity in South Africa has given him great insight into the complexity and challenges of disclosing one’s disability in the workplace. He explains the various occasions where disclosure might be required, including before applying for a position and during one’s career. Jeremy provides READ MORE