In November, Shayni Geffen, SAFMH’s Advocacy Lead, attended a stakeholder engagement session on the Disability Bill, hosted by the South African Law Reform Commission in partnership with the Department of Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities.
The Bill aims to domesticate the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), a treaty South Africa has been a signatory to for almost 20 years.
The approach to the Bill’s creation is in two phases: the first sets out broad principles and structures – a framework for sectors – while the second phase will see sectors create specific policies, indicators, and actions to implement the Bill in their areas of responsibility.
A few key highlights from the session:
- The Bill aims to consolidate rights currently spread across multiple laws and policies, providing a unified framework aligned with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
- The Bill includes penalties for discrimination, with fines of up to R100,000 (adjusted annually for inflation) and possible imprisonment—a significant step toward accountability. This is a positive inclusion, and it also provides a mechanism to hold government officials personally accountable where acts of discrimination occur, such as in service delivery practices.
- 35 submissions have been made to date. Concerns include clearer duty-bearer responsibilities, monitoring, reporting mechanisms, caregiver inclusion, and ensuring reasonable accommodations are well-defined. These are matters that remain to be addressed in future drafts.
The session also reinforced the value of practical examples and lived experience in shaping policy. Engaging with stakeholders early helps ensure the Bill will be actionable, meaningful, and effective once implemented.
Key challenges remain. This includes how to monitor sectoral responsibilities, fund implementation, enforce accountability, and ensure alignment across departments. These are being openly discussed in ongoing consultations, and we look forward to seeing how they have been addressed in future interactions of the bill.
Looking ahead, the Bill will continue to be refined, with further rounds of consultation once a reworked draft is released (exact date is not known at this moment). It’s exciting to see South Africa taking steps toward a comprehensive, rights-based framework that holds real impact for persons with disabilities —a step many in the disability sector have long awaited.
