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A VISIT TO THE CAPE TOWN SOCIETY FOR THE BLIND - BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS FOR THE BLIND
Issued by Abigail Baker on behalf of the FW de Klerk Foundation on 30/05/2025
On Wednesday, 2 April 2025, a delegation of the FW de Klerk Foundation comprising of Vice Chairperson Christina Teichmann and Marketing Manager Abigail Baker, visited the Cape Town Society for the Blind (CTSB), a charity which aims to offer the blind and visually impaired training and employment opportunities within a secure and supportive environment.
For many years, the Cape Town Society for the Blind has been one of a few selected non-governmental organisations that receive financial support from the FW de Klerk Foundation in recognition of the excellent work they are doing and the valuable contribution that they make towards fulfilling the constitutional rights of vulnerable groups, such as children and young adults, people with special needs or the homeless. The funds dispersed in 2025 to these organisations were raised through the 2024 Nedbank South African Charity Golf Day, a yearly event of which President FW de Klerk is a Life Patron.
According to a recent report published by Statistics South Africa, titled “Profiling Socio-economic Status and Living Arrangements of Persons with Disabilities in South Africa, 2011–2022,” 8.3% of people reported some difficulty in seeing, while those that reported a lot of difficulty constituted 1,5% of people. Persons who were unable to see were less than one per cent (0,1%). These statistics are staggering when put in context. As South Africa’s population exceeded 63 million in 2024, meaning that around 63 000 people are unable to see and around 945 000 people have a lot of difficulty seeing.
This is especially prevalent amongst older individuals, as between 2011 and 2022, there was a significant decrease in the prevalence of disabilities among children aged 5 to 9 years and a corresponding increase among older individuals aged 80 years and above.
In addition, South Africans at large face high unemployment rates, worsening of poverty rates and greater inequality in the country. This disproportionately impacts vulnerable groups, like the visually impaired, who need additional assistance and the use of assistive devices to navigate the world.
The Cape Town Society for the Blind, founded in 1929, not only provides support to the visually impaired and their families, but they also provide a platform for the blind to be active participants in the economy through innovative training, access to assistive resources and career development programmes.
They also facilitate job placement and are committed to increasing their small business units (including packing and recaning services) and developing additional skills within the crafting sector (including cane weaving and material loom weaving) to ensure accessible, sustainable employment opportunities and enhanced quality of life for the visually impaired.
Additionally, they provide soft skill training which focuses on providing life skills, entrepreneurship, public speaking, office administration, events management and job placement training. They also provide International Computer Driving Licence training, Braille training, End-User Computing, SmartDigi training and much more.
The Cape Town Society for the Blind, is also home to a low vision clinic. The Jannie Mouton Low Vision Clinic acts as a one-stop eye care facility for the public and offers low vision aids, such as magnifiers, tinted lenses, telescopes and special task lighting, to name a few.
Judith Coetzee, Deputy CEO, Fund Developer & Head of Sales, recognised that there are many uncontrollable reasons why someone may become visually impaired, including genetics and accidents. Some have been visually impaired their entire lives; some have experienced a slow decline in vision as they age; and others have experienced a life altering event and have had to adjust the course of their lives in their prime.
No matter what, the Cape Town Society for the Blind is ready to break down barriers and support their success.
For more information on the Cape Town Society for the Blind visit their website.
