During the early months of the global pandemic the international Disability Rights Monitor group survey illustrated the circumstances of persons with disabilities around the world. Gradually literature on the situation for persons with disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa started to emerge. As members of an informal network looking at issues affecting this group, some of the authors of this report realised that much of the research done was not specifically focusing on their perceptions during the pandemic and that it was not using the WG-SS questions. Having noticed a gap in the type of data being collected by other scholars and the media, this small informal network identified a need for a survey that would look at both experiences and perceptions of persons with disabilities focussing on lived experiences of socioeconomic impacts and access to human rights during the pandemic in South Africa. This report summarises some of the key findings of the study, which was conducted on-line using Google Forms from the 1 July to 31 August 2021. All percentages displayed are rounded to the nearest percent and this may affect what is displayed in charts. While we cite some literature in this report, a separate literature review was written by the team, and was used to guide the research and focus the questions.

COVID-19 pandemic and associated national responses have had ramifications for societies around the world, including South Africa. The marginalisation of people with disabilities is well documented in pre-COVID times, and emerging evidence suggests that the crisis has made this worse, as well as presenting new challenges for people with disabilities. This paper presents a review of published research and grey literature of relevance to the proven or anticipated socio-economic, wellbeing and human right related impacts of COVID-19 on people with disabilities in South Africa and other contexts. Its purpose is to summarise evidence to inform a study on the experiences of South Africans with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic and the development of an improved inclusive framework for future management of such crises in South Africa. After a brief introduction, the paper is structured around four main sections. Context is provided by considering COVID-19 and disability both globally and in Africa. Then the literature focused on Humanitarian Disaster Risk Reduction and disability inclusion is discussed. Finally the South African policy and legislation environment on disability and humanitarian action is explored. The review finds that globally there is a limited but growing body of work on COVID-19 and disability. There is a particular dearth of evidence focusing specifically on Africa. The evidence that does exist tends either to be focused on a few particular countries or form part of large global surveys. Much of the global level grey literature published early in the pandemic and subsequently anticipates exacerbated negative experiences for people with disabilities, including exclusion from services, stigma and discrimination and lack of inclusive approaches to relief and support by governments and others. Advisory materials, sometimes focussed on specific subgroups, are generally in agreement about calling for a universally inclusive and disability aware approach to pandemic mitigation across settings and sectors. The limited primary research on COVID-19 and disability is mostly focussed on high income settings and or populations with particular health concerns.