On 8 October 2019, the Disability Rights Unit at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria (UP), was invited by the BOLD student society to participate in an awareness event. BOLD is an acronym for Beyond Our Limiting Disabilities and is a student society for students with disabilities and aims to raise awareness on disability issues at UP.

The Disability Rights Unit was represented by Mrs Tariro Rufetu and Ms Vivian Kasunda, both Research Assistants in the Unit. Their presentations focused on explaining what psychosocial disabilities are as this type of disability is often misunderstood. They outlined the two international and regional legal instruments that protect the rights of persons with disabilities: the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa (African Disability Rights Protocol). Their presentation also touched on the theme for this year’s Disability Rights Annual Conference hosted by the Unit which is ‘Fulfilling the right of persons with disabilities to live in the community: Promoting choice, inclusion and participation’’. The conference will take place on 11 and 12 November 2019 at Southern Sun O.R. Tambo International Airport Hotel, Kempton Park, South Africa.

In attendance were students with and without disabilities and staff from different UP departments including the Disability Support Unit, the Department of Student Affairs as well as the Student Representative Council. The event featured presentations from Dr Matete Madiba (Director of Student Affairs), Mr Juan Erwee (Technical Officer, UP Disability Unit), Ms Maria Ramaahlo (Head, UP Disability Unit), Ms Yanga (a young motivational
speaker who experienced a temporary disability), Mr Zak (a visually impaired student doing his Masters degree in Genetics), Mr David Kabwa (President of the Student Representative Council). There were also performances by Mr Kgotso and Ms Princess.

Themes covered during the event touched on ‘temporal but unbearable’, ‘from student to staff’, ‘demonstrating excellence’ and ‘just because you cannot see it, it does not mean it is not there’, demonstrating how there are ways to break barriers, even though one may have a disability.

The event was geared towards giving students and staff without disabilities the experience of having a disability and participants took part in activities that involved reading braille, interpreting sign language and moving around in a wheelchair.

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