A normative model for the employment of people with disabilities within the provincial government of the Western Cape

Abstract

The research investigates trends in the employment of people with disabilities within the Provincial Government of the Western Cape (PGWC) and develops a normative model to address the matter of low employment and progression rates of people with disabilities within the PGWC. The advent of democracy in 1994 in South Africa witnessed the enshrinement of the fundamental human rights of all citizens, particularly within previously disadvantaged groups. Yet, in spite of rights being legislated for people with disabilities, such people within the public service represented only 0.15% of the total staff complement of the public service nationwide, as at December 2004, compared to the 2% target legislated in 1995. The research examines a philosophical and theoretical approach to managing the employment and retention of people with disabilities within the public service in Chapter Two, before providing a synopsis of the existing constitutional and legislative framework that supports access to employment for people with disabilities. The subsequent Chapters examine trends in the employment of people with disabilities within the PGWC, in conjunction with a situational analysis of disability in South Africa. The recruitment and selection practices within the PGWC are then examined in order to determine whether specific disability actions have been incorporated into the documentation. Finally, key recommendations follow a description of the research methodology and the presentation of the most salient findings of the study. The proposed normative model incorporates eight sets of criteria jointly derived from the literature and the empirical survey. The sets of criteria must be put in place for the achievement of a sustained increase in the employment of people with disabilities. The findings on disability employment in the PGWC are generalised to the remaining eight provinces in the country on the basis that the same policy and procedure documents are regulatory in all nine provinces.