Disability Exclusion Costs SA Billions in GDP as Corporates Struggle to Know Where to Start

2 December 2025, Johannesburg: Despite legislation requiring companies to employ 3% of people with disabilities, South African corporates are falling drastically short—with people with disabilities making up just 1.2% of the workforce. This failure is costing the country between 1% and 7% of GDP annually, according to the International Labour Organisation.

As the world marks International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Wednesday, leading non-profit Afrika Tikkun is calling on companies to move beyond passive compliance and actively partner to tap into a wealth of underutilised talent.

"Executives have told me that they do not know how to 'do disability'," says Lana Roy, the Programme Lead of 360: Disability Inclusion at Afrika Tikkun. "What does 'do disability' even mean? In South Africa, companies have a legal obligation to employ disabled people, but there are also moral reasons for companies to make an effort to improve disability inclusion."

The Legal Landscape

The Employment Equity Act (EEA) of 1998 ensures that more disabled people, along with black people and women, are employed in order to address past imbalances and ensure more equitable representation in the workplace. Companies have until August 31, 2030 to meet new sector-specific targets under the EEA of at least 3% (an increase from 2%) of employees being suitably qualified people with disabilities in upper occupational levels, such as top and senior management.

The Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Act sets as a wider goal the empowerment of people with disabilities. Companies can boost their BEE scores by employing people with disabilities or launching initiatives that benefit people with disabilities. The requirement has also recently been increased from 2% to 3%.

The Reality Gap

Despite the work that has been done, local data still reveals a woeful picture.

There are approximately 3.3 million people in South Africa living with disabilities (about 5.2% of the population), according to Statistics South Africa data, yet they make up only 1.2% of the workforce, according to Commission for Employment Equity reports published in 2023.

The International Labour Organisation has calculated that this exclusion costs countries between 1% and 7% of GDP annually—meaning South Africa is losing billions while a wealth of talent remains underutilised. "Many companies struggle to know where to begin, yet Afrika Tikkun has long practiced inclusion as fundamental to our work, working with hundreds of people with disabilities each year as part of our Cradle-to-Career pipeline, that develops young people from early learning to economic empowerment " says Roy.

"Beyond the legal requirements, there is the moral imperative to ensure greater inclusion in the workplace because it is the right thing to do," says Roy. "Organisations should be making more of an effort to employ and integrate them."

A Proven Solution

"Afrika Tikkun's award-winning 360° Cradle-to-Career model demonstrates how inclusion works at scale—identifying children with disabilities early, providing specialised educational support, ensuring psychosocial services, offering skills training in accessible formats, and creating employment bridges with partners committed to diversity," says Roy.

"Through public-private partnerships, we're developing a pipeline of skilled young people, brimming with potential and ready to join South Africa's labour pool and addressing the systemic barriers that perpetuate intergenerational poverty."

One of the organisation's main goals is to ensure meaningful employment and integration for people with disabilities, and it works directly with companies to expand disability representation in their workforce. Afrika Tikkun brings proven methodologies and specialised resources to help organisations make the structural and cultural changes necessary to successfully hire and support disabled staff.

A Call for Corporate Collaboration

"We've built the infrastructure, we have the candidates, the learnerships and provide the skills training for people with disabilities—however, meaningful employment requires corporate collaboration. We need a demand-driven, made-to-order approach," says Roy.

"The solution requires a shift from passive compliance to active collaboration. We need corporate partners to work with us, proactively articulating their skills requirements, co-designing training pathways, and creating genuine employment opportunities. This approach ensures we're developing candidates with the exact competencies employers need."

"Having successfully partnered with numerous corporates over three decades, Afrika Tikkun has the track record and expertise to scale disability inclusion across South African business. We stand ready to help organisations transform legal obligation into competitive advantage by accessing the significant talent pool that remains underutilised."

Visit  https://afrikatikkun.org/ to find out more.