The intervention targets of family functioning and cognitive insight in community-dwelling individuals with schizophrenia: a simulated network analysis.

Globally, the integration of persons with disabilities (PWDs) into the labour market remains a persistent challenge central to commitments to equality and social justice (World Health Organization [WHO] ). The WHO estimates that over one billion people live with some form of disability, with unemployment rates among PWDs reaching between 50% and 70% in many low- and middle-income countries (Saran, White & Kuper ). Across Africa, approximately 75% of working-age PWDs are excluded from the labour force (United Nations Human Rights Council [UNHRC] ), underscoring the structural nature of disability exclusion in developing contexts. In South Africa, this challenge is particularly acute due to intersecting historical and structural factors. The legacy of apartheid systematically excluded Black South Africans with disabilities from education and employment, creating compounded disadvantages that persist despite democratic reforms (Charles ). Although the country has adopted progressive legislative and policy frameworks, including the and its ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2007, a substantial gap remains between policy commitments and actual labour market outcomes (Mukwevho & Matlala ). This implementation gap is most visible in the public sector, which has consistently failed to meet its disability employment targets. Despite a long-standing benchmark of 2%, representation of PWDs has remained stagnant at approximately 1% for over two decades (Department of Public Service and Administration [DPSA] ; Parliamentary Monitoring Group [PMG] ). Recent national data indicate that only 1.05% of the public sector workforce comprises PWDs, with some estimates placing the figure even lower at 0.95% (Republic of South Africa ; SABC News ). This persistent under-representation exists alongside increasingly ambitious policy targets, including a proposed minimum of 4% for designated employers and a longer-term target of 7% by 2030 (Republic of South Africa ). The widening gap between current performance and policy aspirations highlights the limitations of existing approaches to disability inclusion.