Blind SA taking bookkeepers body to court over alleged discrimination towards blind students

JOHANNESBURG - Non-profit organisation (NPO) Blind South Africa is taking the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB) to the Equality Court over what it says is discrimination against visually impaired students.

The case centres on the plight of 50 Blind SA volunteer treasurers who are trying to complete the national certificate in small business and financial management through the ICB.

The project is funded by the Finance and Accounting Services Sector Education and Training Authority.

Blind SA said they’ve been left in the lurch as a result of the ICB’s refusal to adapt its online platform to accommodate them.

Blind SA said they have already completed 60% of their coursework but need to complete portfolios of evidence and examinations through the ICB’s digital platform before they can receive their qualifications, and to this end, they’ve all received laptops with special accessibility software.

Blind SA, however, said the ICB first denied repeated requests from the NPO to test the special software, then ran its own accessibility audit, which found the platform was not accessible and that it was apparently too expensive, technical and time-consuming to fix right now.

This resulted in the door closed on the students.

There is also now a dispute as to whether or not they were actually registered.

Law centre Section 27 on behalf of the students has described the impact of discrimination against visually impaired students on the part of the ICB as "severe".

“We’re talking here about poor youths. They are all unemployed. And they are blind and visually impaired. So, it’s a marginalised sector that’s already vulnerable that’s being further marginalised. So, this kind of denial has a really severe impact because they may not get this opportunity again,” said Section 27’s senior attorney Demichelle Petherbridge.

At the same time, Blind SA says there's a possibility that visually impaired students will not complete their academic qualifications because they can't access some online platforms.

Blind SA president Christo de Klerk says this is a major setback.

"They are devastated, they do not want to lose this opportunity. They have no income; this will enable them to earn a decent income, to have a qualification that will give them an opportunity in life, to open doors."

The ICB has yet to file papers.