Why, despite decades of legislation, quotas, and incentives, do persons with disabilities in South Africa remain excluded from meaningful work?

Left Behind presents original nationwide research into the employment crisis facing persons with disabilities. Using a mixed methods approach that combines survey findings with qualitative insights, the book uncovers systemic barriers in recruitment, workplace access, and education. It shows how discrimination and weak policy implementation intersect with race, gender, geography, and socioeconomic status to shape outcomes. Through rigorous analysis and the voices of those directly affected, it exposes why existing measures fall short and what must change to achieve real inclusion.

• Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Content warning
• Abstract
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• 1 History of the progress made in South Africa for people with disabilities seeking employment
  • Progress made in employment pathways for people with disabilities
  • Implementing legislation and ongoing barriers
  • A shift in attitudes towards people with disabilities
• 2 Current state of inclusion of people with disabilities in employment in South Africa
  • Inequality in South Africa
  • Unemployment in South Africa and the unreliability of available data
  • Youth unemployment in South Africa
  • Statistics for unemployment among people with disabilities in South Africa
  • How reliable is the data for employment rates for people with disabilities?
  • Ongoing challenges people with disabilities face in their path to employment
  • Continuing change for pathways to employment for people with disabilities in South Africa
• 3 Survey results and analysis
  • Introduction
  • Challenges and observations
  • Survey results (descriptive)
  • Socio-economic factors in relation to employment outcomes
    • Level of education
    • Income
  • Household income distribution
    • Duration of unemployment
  • Demographic factors in relation to employment outcomes and socio-economic factors
    • Gender
    • Race
    • Age
    • Urban/rural
  • Summary conclusion
  • Key snapshots
  • Bibliography
• 4 Identifying factors influencing employment outcomes for people with disabilities in South Africa
  • The intersectional approach
  • Research question
  • Why logistic regression?
  • Analytical framework
  • Interpretation of results
    • Demographic factors
    • Socio-economic factors
    • Disability-specific factors
  • Summary of results
• 5 Access to education and employment outcomes thereof
  • Employment status across educational levels
  • Relationship between educational barriers and level of education
  • Thematic analysis of educational barriers
  • Lived experiences of educational barriers
    • Discriminatory attitudes and behaviours
  • Summary of results
• 6 Navigating employment barriers: Experiences of discrimination and self-perceived challenges in the job application process
  • Experiences of discrimination during job applications or interviews
    • Outright rejection due to disability
    • Discriminatory interview practices and sexual exploitation
    • Vanishing job offers and hiring excuses/changes
    • Lack of interview opportunities and communication
    • Summary
  • Exploring self-perceived barriers to employment
    • Discrimination and attitudinal barriers
    • Demographic barriers to securing employment
    • Accessibility-related barriers
    • Disability-related barriers
    • Educational barriers
    • Feedback and lack of communication
    • Systemic and policy issues
    • Summary
• 7 Organisations in South Africa
  • What does your organisation do to help people with disabilities find employment?
    • SANCB
    • Edeaf
    • BlindSA
  • Do you provide any support to persons with disabilities in the open labour market?
    • SANCB
    • National Institute for the Deaf
    • Edeaf
    • BlindSA
  • What would you say is the current situation regarding persons with disabilities in the labour market in SA?
    • SANCB
    • NID
    • Edeaf
    • BlindSA
  • What do you think are the core challenges and/or barriers in finding employment?
    • SANCB
    • NID
    • Edeaf
    • BlindSA
  • Do you think there is a lack of skilled persons with disabilities in comparison to the non-disabled population?
    • SANCB
    • NID
    • Edeaf
    • BlindSA
  • What do you think can be done/or done more to help people with disabilities find employment?
    • SANCB
    • NID
    • Edeaf
    • BlindSA
  • Has your organisation observed any inequality/differences among people with disabilities with regards to demographic background such as race, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic background?
    • SANCB
    • NID
    • Edeaf
    • BlindSA
• Discussion topics
• References
• Index

Liändrie Steffens is a research and data analyst from South Africa with a passion for disability inclusion. Living with a visual impairment herself, she brings both professional expertise and lived experience to her work. Her research focuses on uncovering systemic barriers and driving evidence-based solutions that promote equity and meaningful inclusion for persons with disabilities in the labour market.