The National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) recently held their 2019 awards event at the Transnet School of Rail at Esselenpark Campus.
The event featured a variety of reasons for celebration.
In his keynote address, NCPD national chairperson Mahmood Mia pointed out to the most recent cause for celebration in the sector, which was President Cyril Ramaphosa committing the government and private sector to full inclusion of persons with disabilities.
NCPD milestones for 2019 included commemorating its 80th year of successful service delivery and advocacy and Casual Day celebrating 25 years of making a positive impact in the social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities.
Casual Day, which was conceptualised in tandem with South Africa’s new democracy, continues to support more than 500 schools and organisations of and for persons with disabilities.
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“We are proud of Casual Day’s ongoing success and growth these past two-and-a-half decades,” said Mahmood.
“The project started with a total income of R443 000 in 1995, and in 2018 we reached R31.5-million.”
High on the day’s agenda and the NCPD’s list of priorities, was an inspiring reflection on Casual Day 2018 under the theme ‘Everyday Heroes’, which showcased some of the Casual Day impact stories.
“I am completely in awe of what the Casual Day funds have made possible in all nine provinces,” said Zukiswa Nzo, spokesperson of the NCPD and Casual Day ‘Ambassador with Disability’.
Zukiswa, who was also the master of ceremonies at the event, went on to explain the extent of the programmes’ achievements.
“We now have skills development centres where there were none before,” she said.
“We have people with disabilities who now have the assistive devices they need to engage in broader society.
“We are seeing more and more buildings that are accessible and workplaces that are inclusive, all thanks to the money raised by the Casual Day project.”
This review was followed by the announcement of the 2019 theme, ‘Time to Shine with Persons with Disabilities’.
“The theme is the NCPD’s invitation to the whole country,” said Therina Wentzel-Du Toit, national director at NCPD.
“We are inviting South Africans to go with their glow on Casual Day 2019, as persons with disabilities are finally getting an equitable dispensation.
“This is an invitation to all to shine together as one people.”
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The entertainment programme kept the momentum going and was cause for great excitement.
The highlight was the breath-taking and inspiring dance performance by Musa Motha.
Musa, who lost one leg due to bone cancer, now mixes street, cultural and classical dance, not only to delight audiences, but to give hope to those who need it most.
He is also a football fanatic and a part-time DJ.
He has worked with local and international artists and he is the mastermind behind two SABC 2 documentaries Talk SA and the award-winning Each One Teach One.
The best-for-last slot of the morning was reserved for the awards ceremony, rewarding and commending the Casual Day contributions of a wide variety of individuals, organisations, schools, companies and government departments in 2018.
Special tribute was paid to Edcon, the NCPD’s main sponsor for the past seven years.
Mahmood thanked the organisation for raising R3.4 million through sticker sales in 2018, over and above their sponsorship amount in excess of R1, 3 million.
He pointed out that while the sponsorship concluded, it’s not the end of the NCPD-Edcon relationship.
Thanks to the many impact programmes ahead, and the ongoing marketing Casual Day stickers in their stores, Edcon will still be part of this initiative.
As project owner and manager of Casual Day, the NCPD is happy to share the funds raised with the following National Beneficiary Organisations in the coming year:
• The South African National Council for the Blind.
• The South African Federation for Mental Health.
• Deaf Federation of South Africa (DeafSA).
• Autism South Africa.
• The National Association for Persons with Cerebral Palsy.
• The National Institute for the Deaf (NID).
• Alzheimer’s South Africa.
• Blind SA.
• South African Disability Alliance (SADA).
• Associations for Persons with Disabilities (APDs).
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This year NCPD welcomes the following organisations to their list of beneficiaries:
• Cheshire Homes SA.
• Muscular Dystrophy Foundation of South Africa (MDFSA).
• Transoranje Institute for Special Education.
• Grey Power.
• SANASE.
This year, Casual Day will be on Friday, September 6.
The public can buy stickers at the following retailors, any Edcon Group store (Edgars, Edgars Active, Jet, Boardmans, CNA, and JetMart), Game and Dion Wired stores, Toys R Us and Babies R Us Stores, AlphaPharm pharmacies, Express Stores, National and local NGO’s whom are beneficiaries as well as schools, and at The Casual Day National office, Edenvale, Gauteng.
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