Disability Rights Activisms in Eastern and Southern Africa: Lessons from the ADA and Lessons for the ADA

In December 2012, in connection with the mourning of Nelson Mandela’s death, much was made about the scandal involving the sign language interpreter. South African deaf audience were unable to follow the eulogies on television because, as it turned out, the hired interpreter either did not know sign language sufficiently or had a mental breakdown. That the incident became a major topic of interest in South Africa and the world beyond, including in many African countries, attests the extent to which disability rights have become part and parcel of the universal conversations on human rights. My presentation explores some of the disability rights discourse in eastern and southern Africa as represented in constitutional clauses and legislative amendments. While some might dismiss such legal reforms as hollow promises, or as even impractical without the political and economic means to implement them, I argue that these legal reforms are of revolutionary significance. Even if the documents have yet to show tangible results in African countries, they have had the power of promoting national awareness against blatant forms of exclusion and discrimination. The ambitions expressed in some of the national constitutions, such as in the guaranteeing of a portion of the parliamentary seats to disabled lawmakers, might even inspire an alternative approach in the ongoing struggle for equal political representation here in North America.