Disability Legislation

Legislation for disabled people was articulated through the Disability Discrimination Acts (1995 and 2005) and the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2009) in many countries. In South Africa legislation for disability also was aligned with international trends such as those encouraged by the ILO and other relevant bodies. Domestic policies on disability were spearheaded by the White Paper on the Integrated National Disability Strategy (INDS) introduced in 1997 (Maja, Mann, Sing, Steyn & Naidoo, 2011). Over and above this strategy, government departments developed their own respective policies to address disability. For example, the Code of Good Practice on Employment of Persons with Disabilities was introduced in August 2002 by the Department of Labour. There is also in place the Commission on Employment Equity (CEE). These are all enshrined within the Employment Equity Act (EEA) (Gannon & Munley, 2009).
Mainstreaming disability through employment policies
Mainstreaming disability through employment policies is a move towards making human rights meaningful for people with disabilities (Flynn, 2013). It is also a strategy to recognise disabled persons as an untapped reservoir for labour demands for sustainability of self and …show more content…
Cultural practises play a big role in how disability is perceived and influences the disability employment landscape. The quota systems appear to favour persons with disabilities, but in essence one needs to scrutinise them profoundly as in reality they aggravate the problem of unemployment of persons with disabilities. Beyond the quota systems, there is need to open up avenues for self-employment and mainstream disability. The labour market has to open to persons with disabilities and include them in ways that show a paradigm shift from disabilities to