1. Presentation to Portfolio Committee
Recruitment strategy for people with disabilities
29 February 2012

2. CONTENT OF PRESENTATION
1. Government wide initiatives.
Context
Factsheet
Interventions
Way forward
2. DPSA Internal initiatives.
Internal commitment
Current status
Way forward and strategies

3. Context: Disability Management in the Public Service
The Constitution and many other pieces of legislation have identified the integration of People with Disabilities (PWD) as one of the key activities towards achieving equality.
South Africa ratified the Convention on the Rights of PWD in November, 2007 and to this end, government has to fulfill certain obligations such as right to work and employment.
A target of 2% of PWD in the public service was adopted by Cabinet. By the 2005 review, this target had not been met and Cabinet retained and extended its achievement to March 2009; this target was still not met in 2009.

4. CONTEXT (definitions)
There are three key definitions of disabilities which government has used over the years. All three although differently worded, concur that disabilities are varied, can be visible/non-visible and can be long or short term .
Cabinet approved definition of 2006:”the loss or elimination of opportunities to take part in the life of the community equitable with others that is encountered by persons having physical, sensory, psychological, developmental, learning, neurological, or other impairments, which may be permanent, temporary, or periodic in nature, thereby causing activity limitations and participation restriction with the mainstream society”
The UN Convention: “Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.”
Employment Equity Act: “people who have a long-term or recurring physical or mental impairment, which substantially limits their prospects of entry into, or advancement in employment”.

5. Factsheet: Trends Trends since 2005 are as follows:
December %
December %
March %
March %
March %
June %
September %

6. People with Disabilities in the Public Service
As at 30 September 2011 Persal data reflected the following statistics on PWD:
1,326,941 employees in the Public Service
4798 were persons with disabilities (0.36% representation);
1 927 were female employees with disabilities (40.1%);
74 PWD were at Senior Management Service (Levels 13-16);
172 PWD were in Middle management, while
4552 PWD were at Levels 1-9.

7. Provincial and National Departments (Sept 2011)
NAME
PERFORMANCE
National departments
0.54%
North West
0.40
Mpumalanga
0.34
Western Cape
0.32
Eastern Cape
0.23
Limpopo
Free State
0.22
Northern Cape
0.20
Kwa Zulu Natal
0.13
Gauteng
0.10

8. Interventions
JobACCESS Strategic Framework and Implementation Guidelines 2005: the two documents are part of the resource kit for officials intended to assist them with rights based initiatives to recruit, employ and retain PWD in the Public Service.
Handbook on Reasonable Accommodation for PWD in the Public Service- launched in September The handbook provides easy reference and guide for all public officials and PWD with information that will enable them to create an enabling environment for the employment of PWD and the provision of assistive devices.
Annual Reports generated used to identify those departments that have problems and direct technical support provided.

9. Interventions (continued)
Departments that have not achieved 1% have received letters from the Chief Director asking them to provide a plan of action with timelines on how they are going to improve on their performance. They have also been invited to call for technical support if required.
Close monitoring of these department is going to be done in 2012/13 . Officials will also be encouraged to undergo targeted training with PALAMA.
Strategy to reduce the recruitment period and the vacancy rate in the public service:
This strategy is one of the outputs of outcome 12 of which the MPSA is responsible. The strategy provides for various interventions aimed at reducing vacancies and time it takes to fill posts.
A key point of departure is that the interventions need to accommodate other national priorities such as, inter alia, the improvement of representivity in the Public Service
In instances of people with disabilities, specific attention will be given to –
design special recruitment measures that will fast-track their recruitment
focused monitoring systems for the early identification of shortfalls and corrective action

10. Interventions (cont.)
Training on Disability Management in the Public Service in conjunction with PALAMA launched Dec 2011.
Training piloted in Jan 2012 with the Dept of Public Works;
Policy on the Provision of Reasonable Accommodation and Assistive Devices in the Public Service (PRAAD) developed.
Costing of policy to assist departments with budgeting for reasonable accommodation and assistive devices.
Collaborate with the Department of Monitoring & Evaluation, Department of Labour and the Ministry for Women, Children and PWD on how to best enforce compliance.

11. Way forward
Policy on PRAAD to be rolled out and popularised in the 2012 – 2013 financial year;
Strict follow up to be made on departments that are not submitting their quarterly reports;
The DG to DG letter to departments that have not met the 2% target;
Cabinet to be approached with a request to extend the achievement of 2% representation of persons with disabilities to 2014;

12. Way forward (cont.)
HODs to be held accountable for the achievement of targets by including reporting on targets in their performance assessments;
To conduct an impact analysis of the policies and tools developed to date
Support to departments will continue
Partnerships strengthened with departments that have achieved targets - apply lessons learnt
Encourage peer learning between departments by sharing cases of successful departments with those not successful.
Strengthen partnerships with PWD specific civil society organisations to improve government recruitment and retention processes.

13. DPSA Internal Initiatives. Commitment
The department is committed to improving the recruitment of people with disability and ensuring their reasonable accommodation. The department is also committed to reach its own internal target of 2.5% for people with disability by 2015
People with disability have equal access to skills development programmes through their personal development plans.

14. DPSA: Current Status We have achieved the national target of 2%.
Changes made to ensure access:
Ramps into and inside the building for wheelchairs
Lifts
Toilets for people in wheelchairs on every floor
Evacu-chairs
EAP counselling of people with disability

15. Way forward Strategies and Timelines
Training managers/supervisors on disability management (March 2012)…(starting with current managers who have people with disability in their branches)
Establish a forum and support group for people with disability (April 2012) ;
Serve as a reference group that advises on disability challenges in the workplace ( Batho Pele House);
Automatic sensor sliding doors to be fitted (July 2012);
Audit of current building to assess its disability friendliness (July 2012);
Develop a costed workplace policy on disability management for the intended 2.5% intake (March 2013);
Mainstreaming of disability consideration in ALL Departmental policies (2015);

16. Thank You