​On Tuesday, the Gauteng Department of Social Development partnered with various Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) that deal with disability to honour the strength of mothers of children with disability.
This was done during the roundtable dialogue held at the Sunnyside Park Hotel in Parktown, Johannesburg.

Addressing mothers, Head of Department Thembeni Mhlongo said the purpose of the roundtable was to provide mothers with the opportunity to share their stories, challenges, and successes. “Experiences of mothers of children with disabilities should be heard and taken into consideration as the mouthpiece for your children who in most cases cannot communicate their experiences themselves.

“Today as the department we want to honour you as women but more importantly as mothers of children with disability. It is all about you. Too often, children with disabilities are defined and judged by what they lack rather than what they have. Their exclusion renders them uniquely vulnerable, denying them respect for their dignity, their individuality, even their right to life itself”, added Mhlongo.

She further appreciated the work done by various organisation in terms of supporting children with disability. She invited mothers to speak out without the fear of stigma or discrimination, sharing the past, comparing the present, and imagining the future. A future in which together as mothers of children with disabilities can achieve a common goal of understanding and securing children with disabilities rights.

Leah Lekama from Sunshine Association who also has a child with a disability highlighted some of the challenges faced by mothers. She said parenting is always challenging, but the challenges reach new heights when you are parenting a child with special needs. Unfortunately, many families are still faced with a world that is not accessible for their child’s needs, such as wheel chair ramp access, a lack of adequate toilets and so on”.

Lekama added that many families are faced with lack of understanding from others when it comes to the challenges of raising a child with special needs. However, she emphasised that the best thing a mother can give to a child is care, love and support irrespective of whether a child has disability or not. She said parenting a child with disability requires a high level of knowledge, understanding and perseverance.

Delivering a message of support and sharing his experience Zain Bulbulia from the Office of the Premier said he understands the difficulties parents are facing with their children and he knows that it is difficult for some of the parents to easily accept their children’s disability.

“I had to start learning about my disability because it was a new thing that I was not used to and I had to adapt although it was very frustrating”, he added.

“We must not be shy to spread a message about the rights of children with disability as it is clearly articulated in thechapter 7 of the children’s rights”, said Bulbulia.