Abstract

ADAMS, Samantha; MOTIMELE, Mapheyeledi  and  NED, Liketseng. The cost of work: The dilemma faced by persons with intellectual disabilities in protective workshops in South Africa. S. Afr. j. occup. ther. [online]. 2025, vol.55, n.2, pp.1-4. ISSN 2310-3833.  https://doi.org/10.17159/2310-3833/2025/vol55n2a11.

Persons with Intellectual Disabilities (PWID) in South Africa continue to struggle to build dignified and autonomous lives, due to various personal and contextual constraints. More specifically, the transition from school to competitive employment within the open labour market remains riddled with challenges, despite the known personal, collective and societal benefits disability inclusion within the workplace holds for PWID and their families, for communities and society at large. The disability grant (DG) is a form of social assistance, intended to provide income replacement and basic needs support for people who are unable to work, due to disability. Persons with disabilities who manage to obtain 'employment' within protective workshops (PW) are, at times, required to forfeit a portion of their grant, as they receive a 'salary', which often falls below minimum wage. This situation creates a conundrum for the PWID who, despite being 'employed', earns less than minimum wage, and remains largely excluded from competitive employment. In this paper, we discuss the contextual arrangements that create and sustain this situation within protective workshops, noting points of contention, and offering recommendations to mitigate these. Our discussion supports that PWs are both ideally placed and positioned to facilitate the process of integration of PWID into the open labour market, through implementation of a supported employment approach. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Protective workshops should consider integrating the supported employment (SE) model to better support PWID. Additionally, an integrated community-based participatory approach to address service gaps, facilitate social action, and strengthen intersectoral collaboration, has the potential to improve the PW model and stabilize the social security of PWID.

Keywords : disability grant; competitive employment; disabling environment; functional limitation; disability unemployment; good health and wellbeing; decent work and economic growth.

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