promotion & awareness

The Association undertakes ongoing promotion and awareness projects, in conjunction with the National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in South Africa’s Manager for Promotion and Awareness, Mr Fanie Du Toit. This is an initiative to improve the visibility of persons with disabilities amongst the South African community.

The key objectives of this initiative are -

To develop an open, informed society which allows a two-way communication between persons with disabilities and non-disabled persons.
To develop a knowledge base regarding information to allow informed decision making to the benefit of persons with disabilities and their families.
To empower persons with disabilities with knowledge in order for them to be able to represent themselves regarding awareness, accessibility and employment.

As a result, the challenges and potential of persons with disabilities are identified and promoted, persons with disabilities are empowered to represent themselves concerning disability issues.

Mr Du Toit conducts an annual workshop with our Branches to ensure that those persons responsible for awareness at Branch level, have the necessary skills and information to perform their duties. He also liaises directly with Branches and provides valuable advice and assistance.

The documents listed below are of special interest to persons with disabilities, their families or carers.

Accessible Accommodation

We have compiled a list of contact details for accessible accommodation for visitors to the Western Cape, comprising hotels, guesthouses, bed and breakfasts, holiday accommodation and travel agents & tour guides.

Disabling conditions

The Association has done extensive research in compiling a document detailing the various conditions leading to physical disablement, falling into the categories of Congenital, Disease or Trauma. There are a vast number of conditions resulting in disablement, far too many to list here, and so for the purposes of our work, we have concentrated on those conditions which we have found to be most prevalent. This document is available for purchase in CD format as well.

Beach Access

On 21 December 2002, the previous Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, published regulations prohibiting the use of vehicles in the coastal zone. Whilst these regulations did allow the permissible use by a physically disabled person of an electrically propelled or manual wheelchair, a permit had to be applied for to gain access with a vehicle such as 4 by 4 or quad bike.
Please note that a permit is still not required to gain access with a wheelchair only.

This application process was a cumbersome procedure and very few permits were granted. Following appeals by Council and QASA, the National Director consulted with the new Minister, Mr. Van Schalkwyk, resulting in the amendment of these Regulations. The amendments were gazetted during December 2004 and publicly announced by the Minister at an International Day for the Disabled function held in Cape Town on 3 December 2004.

general document info - read before proceeding

The documents are available in .PDF (Portable Document Format). Adobe Acrobat® Reader® is required to viewing and printing. Use the following link on the image to the Acrobat Reader download page on www.adobe.com if you don't have the reader installed:

documents available for viewing & download

Click on an icon to open its corresponding file

	Accessible Accommodation List of accessible accommodation in the Western Cape. File Info <:110Kb 4:4
	Beach Access On 21 December 2002, the previous Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, published regulations prohibiting the use of vehicles in the coastal zone. Whilst these regulations did allow the permissible use by a physically disabled person of an electrically propelled or manual wheelchair, a permit had to be applied for to gain access with a vehicle such as 4 by 4 or quad bike. Please note that a permit is still not required to gain access with a wheelchair only. This application process was a cumbersome procedure and very few permits were granted. Following appeals by Council and QASA, the National Director consulted with the new Minister, Mr. Van Schalkwyk, resulting in the amendment of these Regulations. The amendments were gazetted during December 2004 and publicly announced by the Minister at an International Day for the Disabled function held in Cape Town on 3 December 2004. File Info <:115Kb 4:6
	Beach Access Permit application: Vehicle use in the coastal zone for a physically disabled person with severe mobility impairment. File Info <:41.5Kb 4:1
	Community Development The Rehab.Net document was formulated by the Association as a model for community based rehabilitation, special education, development, skills training and supported employment for persons with physical disabilities in the Western Cape. File Info <:219Kb 4:11
	Disabling Conditions A reference of conditions leading to physical disablement. File Info <:755Kb 4:55
	Parking Guidelines Draft policy on parking bays for the disabled. Comments received were presented to Minister Dullah Omar for his attention. File Info <:338Kb 4:12