An evaluation of the employment equity act at uThungulu District hospitals for people with disabilities.

Equality is a constitutional provision which grants some people with disabilities opportunities of employment. The law that effects the constitutional provision is the Employment Equity Act (1998) where affirmative action measures are prescribed and to be implemented by designated employers. Many years have passed since the promulgation of the equity legislation in South Africa it is therefore justifiable to evaluate its implementation practices. In line with the central argument, the aim of this study was to evaluate the implementation of Employment Equity Act at UThungulu District Hospitals for people with disabilities. Findings revealed that the implementation of Employment Equity Act in public hospitals is self-contradictory; that is, hospitals are thriving to obtain and retain health professionals with the skills that will assist in combatting diseases whereas people with disabilities are characterised by the low levels of literacy. The implementation of the Occupation Specific Dispensation (OSD) in the public health system is an indication of the nature of skills that are a priority in public hospitals. In line with the transformation agenda, positions that do not require high levels of literacy such as cleaning, security, catering and laundry were outsourced thus decreasing opportunities of people with disabilities to be employed. On the other side of the continuum, penalties imposed by the National Department of Labour for failing to submit Employment Equity Plan against the set quota in the public service confirms that the equity legislation was not contextualised in the South African setting during its formulation phase. Budgetary constraints were reported to be one of the contributing factors for the lack of implementing the equity legislation. However, presence of misappropriation of funds and corruption were reported to be some of the major causes of lack of policy implementation in the public service. The results revealed that district hospitals are not ready to socially and economically integrate people with disabilities based on lack of official accommodation, outsourcing of jobs where people with disabilities can be gainfully employed, lack funds to transform the physical environment and the conflicting priorities of the health sector that seeks to prioritise the employment of health professionals with scarce skills in order to combat diseases.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Zululand

Year dc:date.issued

2017

Author dc:creator

• Koenane, Nonhlanhla Alice

• people with diasbilities --employment equity --affirmative action --stigma --discrimination --attitudes --justice --deontology --public health --reasonable accommodation

Licence

• https://uzspace.unizulu.ac.za/bitstreams/b3bf7630-fb02-45f4-a9e0-c01be3cbde28/download