N AT I O N A L I N Q U I R Y R E P O R T ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION For Human Dignity Challenges and Issues Faced by Special Interest Groups The DRG’s officials lacked awareness on disability rights and adequate capacity to deal with PWDs. Persons with hearing and mental impairments were sometimes treated with indignity and impatience due to communication barriers. For instance, some DRG officials were rude to PWDs including calling them by the nature of their disability, which was demeaning. Information about the DRG services, requirements and legislation governing registration was not in accessible format for PWDs, such as audio, braille and sign language. The DRG office requires a doctor’s letter to confirm that someone has mental impairments. However, evidence gathered revealed that family members often did not take the affected persons to any doctor for treatment, therefore they did not have proof of the mental impairment to enable them to carry out registration on their behalf106. Mentally impaired parents fail to register their children because some relatives are not supportive (due to their limited financial circumstances and sometimes their personal attitudes) in registering children born of these parents, giving rise to a generation of unregistered persons. Parents’ and other family and community member’s negative and discriminatory attitudes towards PWDs often resulted in them ‘hiding’ their children with disabilities and they neither cared nor found value in registering them. Un-documented PWDs depended financially on others and this determined whether they could be registered or not due to the costs involved. Lack of information identifying the particular disability on identity cards rendered PWDs vulnerable especially in emergencies. 4.6 Minority Groups Image 9 Members of the Coloured Community at NI public hearings Minority groups face various challenges in accessing documentation107. Ninety-five percent (95%) of the San community were un-documented108. High illiteracy and poverty levels marginalised them and made it difficult to access documents. Language barriers exacerbated lack of documentation109. 106 This was to allow the mentally impaired person to be assisted in registration due to lack of contractual capacity. The minority groups who gave evidence were the San community, Doma people, Tonga people and the Coloured (mixed race) community. 107 Findings from Commissioners visit to San community in December 2019. Submissions by representatives of the Doma people (from Kanyemba in Mbire, Mashonaland Central) and of the San people (Thwai San Development Trust in Bulilima, Matabeleland South) 108 109 36 36