A 2010 study of the lived experience of persons with disabilities in Southern Africa shows that persons with disabilities are the ‘poorest of the poor’, have limited access to education and employment and often suffer from stigma and discrimination. Persons with disabilities (PWD’s) have suffered from inequalities and have been marginalized due to their position in society. Social exclusion has forced persons with disabilities to be continuously side-lined and deprived of full access to higher education. Subsequently, discrimination in education has amplified unemployment and poverty levels among this group. This reality continues to contribute to persons with disabilities increasingly finding themselves at the bottom of the socio-economic scale. As a result, the human dignity of persons with disabilities is severely impacted.This dissertation looks at the challenges faced by persons with disabilities to access Higher Education Institutions (HEI’s), with specific emphasis on physical disability. The investigation focuses on physical disability particularly because it is visible. The visibility of a disability leads to more discrimination. Generally persons having physical disabilities ‘experience challenges in the area of mobility and physical vitality.’ Furthermore, this dissertation explores access to HEI’s for persons with disabilities rather than access in the basic education sector. Education is a basic human right; all persons must enjoy the right to education, according to the South African Constitution. Barriers of access to higher education for PWDs persist in the post-apartheid era despite the existence of various state policies on the issue. The adequacy of the measure taken to soften the hardships faced by PWD’s regarding access to higher education needs to be re-examined