Durban - A training centre in Illovo has been selected to become a beacon for Africa in terms of training people with disabilities.
Minister for Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Lulu Xingwana and Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini announced on Thursday that the Illovo Development Centre was chosen to be the legacy project for the Disabled People International 8th World Assembly.
The development centre, in the south of Durban, falls under the KwaZulu-Natal Social Development Department. It trains people from vulnerable groups to address skills shortages and inspire job creation.
Now the ministers have committed to ensuring more resources are brought to the centre to train more people with disabilities.
The two ministers said they will ask other departments, including Labour and Public Works, to raise the standards at the centre and make it an institution that others can aspire to.
Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, Public Works Deputy Minister, said her department will shortly address the infrastructure issues and revamp the premises.
The centre provides training for 40 people at a time and accommodation and meals are provided during the course of training.
The ministers said trainers must now go for courses that can help more people with disabilities to, for example, get skilled in teaching blind people to work on computers.
Following interactions with various stakeholders at the Disabled People International Assembly which will end today at the ICC, there are plenty ideas on how the centre can improve to help people in the province.
Dlamini asked officials at the centre to be on the lookout for disabled people who can be trained in social work.
"Families hide children with disabilities, we need social workers who can understand what it's like to be challenged with a disability to help these families... the best people to serve them will be those who have experienced the rejection and understand the conditions," she said.
Xingwana said the centre is like a pilot project and should become a model to other African countries.
There was a huge representation of African countries at the assembly. Some countries like Burundi, who has a significant number of disabled people because of the violent conflicts, invited the minister to visit them.
They want input from the minister about helping their own people with disabilities to develop and investigate possible working opportunities with South Africa.
At the moment, basic computer skills, sewing, beadwork, business skills and catering are some of the courses on offer.
Officials from the centre were delighted with the commitment from the ministers and look forward to advanced training and improving the profile of the centre.
