Located in South Africa on the Atlantic coast, the city of Cape Town boasts beautiful surroundings with nearby public nature reserves and botanical gardens. International visitors are often attracted by opportunities to explore the natural environment and learn more about South Africa’s richly diverse culture and history.

Politically, South African society and government have undergone immense changes over the last decade: a new constitution, change in political leadership and a greater emphasis on a society built on equality. Several university study abroad programs focus on these changes, with courses in such topics as political science, human rights and African history. With regard to disability rights, the South African Constitution of 1996 specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. Additionally, the Employment Equity Act of 1998 includes provisions against employment discrimination based on disability. Several disability organizations are active in South Africa.

Study Abroad at the University of
Cape Town

More than 1800 international students from 73 different countries are studying at University of Cape Town (UCT). Prospective students may contact the International Academic Programs Office (IAPO) for information on academic opportunities. IAPO also develops international opportunities for UCT staff and students, runs a semester study abroad program, stimulates the development of internationalization in all aspects of UCT’s activities and liaises with the international offices of other tertiary institutions in South Africa. The IAPO staff can assist students in obtaining standard visas and study permits (the UCT Government Liaison Office handles the more complex issues) and is a contact point for all international students with respect to nonacademic issues. An off-campus housing resources list is available from IAPO.

UCT also accepts visiting international students (usually post-graduate) or researchers who do not enroll in UCT courses, but wish to be affiliated with UCT while pursuing their own research towards studies at their home university. These visitors must first make contact with a specific department to ensure that they will be welcome and assure the availability of necessary resources to accommodate them in the host department. Once this has been accomplished, admissions and fees are administered by IAPO.

The IAPO does not provide any specific service to international students with disabilities. Students having concerns relating to their disability are advised to communicate with the university’s Disability Unit (DU). The IAPO sees their role as linking international disabled students with the DU and their services as soon as possible.

Disability Unit

Mike Watermeyer is the director of the Disability Unit (DU), which represents about 70 students with motor, sensory, mental and learning disabilities.

The Disability Unit’s Text Conversion and Assistive Technology Services (TCATS) serves not only blind students, but also any student who requires special technology or materials in alternative formats. TCATS uses the services of volunteers to transcribe academic materials onto audiocassette. Disabled students are responsible for dropping materials at TCATS to be converted and picking them up afterward. For Braille embossing, however, lecturers and departmental staff may email materials directly to TCATS. Reading material can also be scanned and then embossed.

The DU’s Computer and Assistive Technology laboratory has six computers equipped with voice synthesis technology, Internet and email access for students to use, and a Braille embosser. The lab also has voice recognition software for students with physical or other disabilities. Consultants from Johannesburg train students at the beginning of each academic year on how to use the assistive technology in the TCATS laboratory.

The DU fundraises on behalf of students to acquire assistive equipment, and it has some wheelchairs and temporary ramps to lend to students as well as some electronic equipment. These are available on a short-term basis. When students require assistive equipment on a permanent basis, the unit prefers to assist those students to fundraise and buy their own, which is more empowering.

Other efforts of the DU include the Macro Access Project, which endeavors to allow students and staff with physical disabilities to access any part of the campus they need to carry out their studies or do their work. UCT is built on a beautiful site on the slopes of Table Mountain, but this means many areas on the campus are inaccessible for physically disabled persons. The long-term goal of the Macro Access Project is to increase accessibility, but it will take time to make necessary changes. The DU can assist physically disabled students with issues of accessing lecture venues. When needed, the unit conducts the required logistical negotiations to have lecture theaters changed or rearranged.

DU’s Disability Awareness/Education Project targets civil engineering and architecture students predominantly, although the broader target is all students at the university. The goal is that no student should graduate from UCT without having a clear idea of what disability is about, where it fits into society and how to be sensitive to infrastructure which could become an obstacle for people with disabilities.

The project also involves raising disability awareness throughout the year, through a poster collection produced by the DU. Posters are placed strategically around the university in order to educate people about disability and to promote equity. This is a crucial part of the work of the DU.

The DU was involved in an awareness campaign off campus, which had to be curtailed last year due to a lack of funding. The aim was to reach out to schools for children with disabilities and organizations outside of UCT to both enhance the services at UCT and provide UCT student mentors for young pupils who have aspirations of studying at UCT. The DU also networks with other tertiary institutions in Southern Africa in particular, but internationally as well.

The DU also works with the Student Health office, which provides both physical and psychological health care. Student Health is both physically and socially accessible. Staff are very helpful and understanding and there is a doctor who works specifically with disabled students’ healthcare concerns. They have a support group for people with disabilities, with a qualified psychologist as facilitator. Student Health recently agreed to accept referrals from the DU for students requiring psychological counseling, in addition to the DU’s referrals for students requiring physical healthcare.

Disability Information for Campus and Community

It is difficult to generalize about accessibility since students with disabilities have diverse access needs, and access varies throughout the UCT campus. No one place is completely accessible for all students. Many times the ramps for wheelchair users are at the back entrance of buildings. However, UCT has undertaken new construction work, which includes many new buildings that are the most accessible for people with physical and visual disabilities. The new Students Union is the most accessible area on campus. There are alternative routes for wheelchair users as well as elevators that are Braille-
labeled. This progress shows that UCT now acknowledges the needs of disabled students when designing and constructing new developments.

Additionally, the political drive behind the Employment Equity Act has paid off substantially. The university has employed a number of disabled people as a direct result of the implementation of the Act. It also gave rise to a number of offices being adapted for people with disabilities as well as bathrooms being either built or adapted.

Previously, it had been difficult to access any levels of the main library, but it is now largely accessible, with only a few remaining access barriers. However, in the library there is a culture of doing things for oneself, which creates a sense of responsibility, but it doesn’t always work well for students with disabilities. Library staff members can be helpful, but they are not as effective with extensive searches and are sometimes unavailable if they are very busy. This problem is even greater for first-year, disabled students who do not know their way around.

At the moment the university has more housing facilities available for students with disabilities than students using it. Previously the situation was reversed. Leo Marquard and Smuts student residences have limited physical access. Parts of the Kopana and Woolsack Student residences are accessible. Disabled students currently seem more interested in living off campus. One finds more disabled students sharing houses than in student residences. UCT residences are oversubscribed and it is very difficult for international students to get space in them. The majority of international students share "digs" or apartments near the university. However, disabled students who choose to live off-campus may encounter inaccessibility in banking, transportation, shopping and other services.

The stereotyping at university is the same as that in broader society. Nondisabled people create barriers in terms of what they perceive disabled people are like and what they are capable of. Brian Watermeyer, a student with a visual impairment, believes some people think that students with disabilities should attend special schools since integration takes too much effort. As a student Watermeyer began to think, "Maybe they are right, maybe I should not be here, and maybe I should go somewhere special." He internalized the negative attitudes he dealt with as a disabled student and tried to hide his disability from others. However, Watermeyer learned that the problem is in the way society is structured; its operations and attitudes function as a handicap for people with disabilities. For example, when he started at UCT, there was not a single accessible written word in any of the libraries at UCT. Since the inception of the DU at UCT, significant progress has been made with services and recourses available for students with disabilities. The situation has improved greatly since the DU introduced a text conversion facility.

Often other students and community members are not aware of when assistance is needed, and when it is unwanted. There is also a lack of awareness of the barriers and difficulties students with disabilities face in accessing services and facilities on campus. With regard to lecturers, many of them do not know how to assist disabled students. It is up to the student to be assertive and explain to them what their role should be in assisting. Prince Nofemelo, a student with a visual impairment, related a success story with one lecturer. During July 1999, he experienced some problems with a lecturer being extremely unhelpful. Nofemelo then approached the lecturer and explained how detrimental his attitude was and how they could work together to change the situation. He told the lecturer, "I am here and I am a part of your class, so I need you to be cooperative." After that, he said the lecturer became the most efficient he’d ever had.

Conclusion

UCT is currently undertaking a number of projects that will contribute to an increasingly disability-friendly environment. Students with disabilities may encounter some challenges, but they are encouraged to contact the DU to discuss support options. Students can choose from several exciting university-level study abroad programs, covering such topics as ecology and the environment, the arts, politics and law, anthropology and many other fields. Contact the University of Cape Town or a local college or university study abroad office to begin exploring the options!

Contacts

International Academic Programs Office
Room 3.05, Education Building
University of Cape Town
Rondebosch 7700 SOUTH AFRICA
Tel: (27-21) 650-2822/3740
Fax: (27-21) 686-5444
Email: iapo@education.uct.ac.za
Web: www.uct.ac.za/misc/iapo/
Mike Watermeyer, Director

UCT Disability Unit
University of Cape Town
Private Bag
Rondebosch 7701 SOUTH AFRICA
Tel: (27-21) 650-2427
Fax: (27-21) 650-3794
Cell: 083 456-4700
Email: disable@socsci.uct.ac.za or mike@uctlib.uct.ac.za
Web: www.uct.ac.za/depts/disability