Notes: The Influence of Disability Models on the Employment of People with Disabilities in the Public Service

In 2005 and subsequently the government adopted a social model of disabilities with the aim that the public service should comprise at least 2% of persons with disabilities (PWDs), thus distancing itself from past practices under the apartheid regime that ostracised PWDs from the mainstream economy and society. Yet almost two decades later, the government is yet to achieve this target. The note examines different models of disability to ascertain whether they may account for this failure. It argues that despite adopting the social model, government’s adherence in practice to the previous medical model accounts for its failure to meet the 2% target of employment of PWDs.