Stigma and discrimination against people with disabilities in employment and promotion: A review of the public service in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Motsepe, Humphrey Lephethe and Sikhosana, Sheperd (2025) Stigma and discrimination against people with disabilities in employment and promotion: A review of the public service in Limpopo Province, South Africa. International Journal of Science and Research Archive, 16 (1). pp. 622-627. ISSN 2582-8185

This study examines how stigma and discrimination against PWDs continue to exist in the public sector of South Africa's Limpopo Province's hiring and promotion procedures. PWD representation is still disproportionately low, even in the face of progressive laws like the Employment Equity Act and the White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The study critically looks at the ways that systemic ableism, leadership inertia, and institutional cultures still thwart efforts at inclusion. The analysis emphasizes the conflict between formal equality and real-life experiences of exclusion in public institutions, drawing on Nancy Fraser's Theory of Social Justice and the Social Model of Disability. The study's methodology is based on secondary data analysis, which includes published academic literature, policy reviews, annual departmental reports, and the results of disability audits. Inadequate implementation of reasonable accommodations, informal hiring practices, undertrained HR staff, and leadership's unwillingness to enforce inclusion mandates are some of the main structural obstacles. Despite the existence of disability inclusion policies, research shows that their implementation is frequently tokenistic and lacks the institutional will and accountability systems required to make them a reality. This paper argues that symbolic compliance with inclusion frameworks perpetuates inequality and calls for stronger mechanisms of enforcement and capacity building. Recommendations include embedding disability inclusion within strategic human resource management systems, developing inclusive performance indicators, and capacitating managers on disability rights. The paper contributes to the discourse on public sector transformation, advocating for an actionable shift from rhetorical commitment to practical change in addressing disability-based exclusion.