Finding permanent employment a big challenge for people with disabilities - NCPD

CAPE TOWN - At least 15% of the country’s population are people with disabilities.

This is according to Therina Wentzel-du Toit from the National Council of and for People With Disabilities (NCPD).

But with this said, she explained that for people with disabilities finding permanent employment was a massive challenge.

The challenges faced by people living with disabilities are in the spotlight as countries across the world, observed International Day of Persons with Disabilities and National Disability Rights Awareness Day, on Saturday.
Wentzel-du Toit said that her organisation was working hard to help remedy some of these challenges.

"We, for example, have been running a public employment programme for a very long time and a lot of people with disabilities whom we have been able to place have also, unfortunately, lost their jobs or lost some of their salaries during the COVID time and its very difficult to get back into employment."

She said that there were learnerships available, but more often than not, these learnerships did not follow through with permanent employment.

"A lot of people who run learnerships are not even keen to employ people or place people afterwards because they just look at the next intake."

But she said that her organisation would continue with its advocacy to assist people with disabilities to follow their dreams and find sustainable employment.