Dr. Tim Hart, Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC)
We’re in conversation withDr Tim Hart from the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), talking about the findings of a study that sought to investigate how South Africans with disabilities experienced COVID-19.
The study primarily looked at the socio-economic, wellbeing and human rights related experiences of people with disabilities. According to Dr Hart, this was possibly one of the largest datasets on people with disabilities’ COVID-19 experiences in a single country.
According to the study, people with disabilities experienced significant household shocks, with 76% experiencing difficulties to pay for basic living expenses, 73% of those needing assistance experiencing interruptions and and many reporting interruptions in access to essential disability and rehabilitation services. Communication also remained one of the major challenges experienced by people with disabilities, who reported very little government intervention.
Dr Hart says the Disability Rights Disaster Framework is far from complete and that it must be completed urgently. He also raised concern over missing disability data.