This week Special Assignment premieres Health-e News Service’s latest documentary, Legacy of Exclusion.

Legacy of Exclusion investigates access to education for disabled children in South Africa and reveals the devastating impact a lack of access can have on both disabled youth and their parents. Education is a right enshrined in our constitution but for many, accessing it is an uphill battle. Thousands of disabled South African children face never seeing the inside of a classroom.

It took Phumzile Vilakazi five years and eight schools before she successfully enrolled her autistic son, Mxolisi, in a school that catered for his needs. Due to a lack of suitable schools nearby, the pair wake up at 4.30am each day to travel for four hours on three modes of transport in order to reach Mxolisi’s school on time. Phumzile is willing to travel these distances because she wants to ensure a future for her son.

“For me education is everything. You can’t have a life if you don’t have an education.” – Phumzile Vilakazi

Others have not been as lucky as Phumzile and Mxolisi. In rural Ingwavuma in Kwazulu-Natal, 22-year-old Makhosi Ndabambi is stuck in Grade 7. She is wheelchair bound but that is where her disability ends. She is completely mentally capable but has not been able to proceed to high school as none of the schools in the area can cater to her specific needs. Stuck in primary school with no prospect of reaching matric, her future looks dim.

“It makes me angry and it makes me want to cry because I want to finish school. I want to matriculate and have that certificate because without that what will I be able to do?” – Makhosi Ndabambi

This week on SABC 3’s Special Assignment, we explore the dire schooling situation for disabled children across South Africa through the stories of a young woman who dreams of one day holding her matric certificate and a mother who battled a broken system to educate her child.

For more on this story, watch Legacy of Exclusion this Sunday night on Special Assignment (SABC 3) at 8.30pm

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Written and produced by Health-e News Service
Contact Fathima Simjee on 011 880 0995 or fathima@health-e.org.za for more information

SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT: SABC 3, 8.30PM
DATE OF BROADCAST: 20 SEPTEMBER 2015
PRODUCER: HEALTH-E NEWS SERVICE

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