100 | Zimbabwe Rule of Law Journal Importantly, the Constitution is also explicit in providing for the right of PWDs to treatment with respect and dignity.25 To secure this equality, the Constitution prohibits discrimination on various grounds including on the basis of disabilities.26 It reads: A person is treated in a discriminatory manner for the purpose of subsection (3) if a. they are subjected directly or indirectly to a condition, restriction or disability to which other people are not subjected; or b. other people are accorded directly or indirectly a privilege or advantage which they are not accorded.”27 Although this provision is significant in guaranteeing the dignity and equality of PWDs, it is weakened by s 83 which submits the achievement of disability rights to the availability of resource test. As correctly argued by Manatsa, this is problematic as the government can rely on this provision to refrain from investing in disability rights.28 In fact, this is how formal or textual equality works. Formal equality is linked with Aristotelian equal treatment idea, which posits that likes must be treated alike.29 Accordingly, there is no need to adopt special measures for the benefit of the marginalized to address systemic inequality. As correctly underlined by Ngwena, formal equality “requires that all persons be evaluated by neutral rules regardless of any disparities on certain individuals or groups.30 In a formal equality context, the law provides equality and prohibits discrimination but there are various legal loopholes that hinder substantial or real equality. In this perspective, the application of equality does not consider structural elements which hinder substantial equality, but reflects the apparent similarity between persons. In this vein, while Zimbabwe has been credited for the adoption of The Disabled Persons Act (DPA)31 which, amongst other provisions, prohibits discrimination against 25 Section 3 (1)(e) of the Constitution 26 Sec 56(3). 27 Section 56(4) 28 Proceed Manatsa ‘Are disability laws in Zimbabwe compatible with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)?” in International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention pp. 25-34 at 32. 29 Aristotle The Nicomachean ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Translated by D Ross)1980 pp. 113a-113b. 30 Charles Ngwena ‘Equality for people with disabilities in the workplace: An overview of the emergence of disability as a human rights issue’ 2004 in Journal for Juridical Science, Volume 29(2): pp 167-197 at 171. 31 Adopted in 1992 and amended in 2001