The lack of disability awareness is the single biggest reason why there has been such sluggish progress towards equitable inclusion of persons with disabilities into mainstream society today.
Notwithstanding numerous pieces of legislation, codes, guidelines and policies that exist in South Africa to support greater equitable inclusion, there is still too little evidence of meaningful progress towards inclusion at any level, including disabilities access to education, employment and being a consumer.
Corporate South Africa is struggling to comply with strenuous obligations imposed by legislation like the Employment Equity Act which, like no other legislation, actually expects evidence of increased numbers of persons with disabilities being employed by them.
If executives, HR, line managers and staff remain poorly-equipped in terms of awareness at all levels, they will continue to be non-compliant and face penalties.
On the other hand, if corporate staff were more aware of the realities of disability in the context of society, not just as employees but as consumers as well, there is no question that greater progress will be made towards genuine disability equity.
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